Militant solons to run for senator under NP

MANILA, Philippines—All's well that end's well. After initial hitches, Senator Manuel Villar and militant party list Representatives Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna and Liza Maza of Gabriela are running under one banner in the May 2010 election.

Villar on Monday formally adopted the two lawmakers as guest candidates in the senatorial slate of the Nacionalista Party.

Ocampo and Maza, who are under Makabayan, a coalition of left-wing party-list groups, pledged to support the candidacy of Villar and his running-mate, Senator Loren Legarda.

This was the first time the left-wing groups will endorse candidates for president and vice president.

Villar said theirs was an unlikely alliance, but added that his party and the left-leaning groups are one in fighting poverty and giving justice and better life to the Filipino.

"Pag hindi nyo naiintindihan kung bakit kami magkasama ng Makabayan hindi nyo pa naiintindihan ang pinaglalaban ng Nacionalista Party (If you don’t understand why we’re together with Makabayan, you still don’t understand what the Nacionalista Party is fighting for)," Villar said.

Legarda added, "it's time that the legitimate organized left joins us in a national scale."

The partnership was stalled last month when Villar merged with the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) of Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Marcos Jr. will run for senator under NP.

This did not sit well with the militants who opposed the Marcos dictatorship and who have been demanding justice for the victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime.

Two weeks ago, Villar announced that it is cutting the merger with KBL although Marcos Jr. will remain under the NP slate.

"Our decision is a result of several months of talks between the Makabayan coalition, the NP standard-bearer Senator Villar and his colleagues, as well as Senator Legarda," said Ocampo and Maza in a joint statement.

What clinched the alliance was Villar's "positive response" to the people's issues they presented to all presidential aspirants.

Villar and Legarda showed their "openness to work with progressive forces in pursuing meaningful reforms in government and society," they said.

Ocampo and Maza both served three terms in the House of Representatives as party-list representatives.