NACIONALISTA Party leaders scrambled yesterday to save an alliance with leftist groups who object to the inclusion of Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the party’s senatorial slate.
The leftists, many of whom suffered under the Martial Law regime of the congressman’s late father, Ferdinand Marcos, demand that his family return any ill-gotten wealth and compensate the human rights victims of the dictator’s one-man rule.
‘‘Our strong position against the human rights violations committed during the Marcos regime and for the return of the ill-gotten Marcos wealth that could be used to compensate the victims of these human rights violations cannot be compromised,’’ said Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, who was himself detained as a political prisoner from 1976 to 1985.
Ocampo added that the Nacionalista’s’ alliance with Marcos’ Martial-Law era Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ‘‘complicated’’ Bayan Muna’s support for the Nacionalistas’ standard-bearer, Senator Manuel Villar.
Former Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, Nacionalista spokesman, said they remained hopeful that Bayan Muna, Anak Pawis and Gabriela would still agree to join forces with the Nacionalista Party for the 2010 elections and come to terms with the party’s decision to tie up with the KBL and include Marcos in its senatorial ticket.
‘‘Talks are going on. We are confident that a common ground can be reached. We are hoping to focus on our commonalities rather than our differences,” Remulla said in a text message.
He said a senatorial team composed of personalities from diverse or disparate political forces were needed in line with Villar’s goal of national unity.
“Senator Villar wants to heal the wounds of the past ,and one way is by putting these groups together in one slate,” he added.
But Ocampo bristled at an alliance with the KBL.
“It’s like they are trying to revive the KBL and putting it in the same level as the NP,” he told an interview with radio station dzRH.
At the signing of the NP-KBL coalition agreement, Villar said Marcos should be judged by his personal qualifications and not by his being the son of the late dictator.
Marcos urged people to stop dwelling on the past and blaming his father for the nation’s woes.
Ocampo reminded Villar that in their coalition talks, he had agreed to adopt the progressive groups’ stand for the recovery of ill-gotten wealth and the settlement of compensation claims of Martial Law victims.
“Now we are asking, is Villar reneging on his commitment?” he said, adding that if this were so, they would no longer pursue an alliance with the NP.
The Bayan Muna lawmaker and former underground communist leader said their talks with the Nacionalistas were going smoothly until the entry of Marcos and the KBL. He said they had even reached an agreement on economic policy and foreign relations.
If coalition talks collapsed, Ocampo said, the party-list groups might field him and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza as independent candidates for the Senate.
