PALACE HIT FOR NOT DROPPING NO-ELECTION PLAN

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said Malacañang s refusal to honor the preponderant sentiment of members of the Council State to junk the no-election proposal vindicates the decision taken by opposition leaders not to participate in the Council meeting last Tuesday.

Pimentel said the Palaces insolent behavior proves that the Council meeting was nothing more than a sham exercise where opinions that do not suit the interest of the administration are conveniently ignored no matter how sound they may be or even if they came from the majority.

The cat is out of the bag. No-election or no-el is a brainchild of Malacañang and it is very much alive. It is a Marcosian tactic to bribe members of Congress and local government officials with a three-year extension of their term and other concessions in exchange for their support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyos continued stay in office and constitutional amendments that will advance her selfish agenda, the minority leader said.

Pimentel said the administrations recourse to undemocratic methods like stripping the citizens of their sacred right of suffrage also showed how desperate the President and her cohorts have become in fighting for their political survival and how isolated they are from the people whom they are supposed to serve.