Who is the real opposition?

Albay governor Joey Salceda is the latest Arroyo ally to "defect" from Lakas to another political party. Salceda, a classmate of Liberal party standard bearer Noynoy Aquino made the announcement yesterday. Previous to Salceda, Cong. Nepthali Gonzales Jr of Mandaluyong also defected to the LP. Gonzales, mind you, was the one who nominated Gilbert Gibo Teodoro as Lakas standard bearer. 


The shocker will be former president Fidel V. Ramos. Ramos, as some say, is set to announce his support behind Noynoy Aquino. 


This confuses not just this writer but millions of Filipino voters, actually 53% of the Filipino people. 


The Liberal Party has been criticizing the economic policies of the Arroyo administration since they began their campaign. They blame the Arroyo administration for the prevalent poverty being experienced by majority of the people. Now, here they are, welcoming with open arms, Salceda, the economic adviser of Mrs. Arroyo, even acted as Arroyo's posterboy of neo-liberal economics. 


Does this mean that the Liberal party openly supports and expouses Salceda's economic philosophy? What now? Will the Liberal party eat its own vomit? 


Will they now refrain from criticizing Arroyo's economic policies since the president's closest economic adviser is now with them? 


How about Gonzales, a very close ally of the Abaloses, the same family whose patriarch, Benjamin Senior, is involved in the nefarious ZTE-NBN scandal? Gonzales is a very close Arroyo and First Gentleman ally. 


I remember Aquino saying that they will chose their members. And I always remember that the party always encourages people to vote for new and young blood to government service. What now? The Liberal party, in its own quest for glory, is welcoming every tom, dick and harry of the present discredited administration, probably even those who enriched themselves through multi-million commissions and kickbacks. 


Who will be next? Joc-Joc Bolante? The First Gentleman? 


I'm beginning to wonder who is really the real opposition.


As one of my friends always say, let's try and vote for new people in government, let's try these new blood. How would we expect change under a Noynoy administration when the very same people who caused this untold misery for nine years are now set to manage the bureaucracy if he wins this election?


This is the same problem with the Nacionalista party. Nograles, who was the main proponent of charter change and the main man who blocked the impeachment of Mrs. Arroyo, is slated to join the Nacionalista. More than thirty Congressmen and a number of governors are also moving to the Nacionalista. These very same people were part of Mrs. Arroyo's big network of conspirators. They supported the president, blocked every attempt to oust her and even marshalled their forces to neutralize the efforts of numerous groups to change this administration. Now, they are supporting the Nacionalista and the Liberal party. 


Please stand up, those who really oppose this administration.