Deadly endorsement

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

Andal Ampatuan Jr. endorsing leading presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III was the height in irony. I saw the massacre artist on TV smiling like a rat and wearing a yellow T-shirt while giving a thumbs-up sign for Noynoy.

Imagine Ampatuan’s vote or his clan for that matter deciding the outcome of the presidential race come May elections in favor of Aquino. This sinister fellow’s deadly endorsement has indeed gotten the interest of constituents of this Banana Republic who have commented about the issue from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Now, if the Ampatuan clan can help Aquino win, my favorite drunken master says, there’s no problem with that. “They can help Aquino win, why not?” he says. “But then, they have to face the law once Noynoy is in Malacanang for allegedly killing more than 50 victims – relatives of their rival clan, the Mangudadatus, journalists, lawyers and supporters.”

“Do they have plans without Aquino’s knowledge, of rigging elections in Maguindanao, Garci style so Noynoy will win,?” he asks in drunken stupor. “Madam Gloria would be spewing fire and brimstone. It would be like getting a taste of one’s own medicine of that would be the case.”

Noynoy, when confronted by newsmen about the Ampatuan endorsement said “Siguro joke po yun. Hindi ko nakakausap yan. ‘Di namin hinahabol ang kanilang endorsement (It must be a joke. I never talked to him. We never asked his endorsement). No, thank you.”

Aquino, in an email to the Northern Philippine Times, pointed out that Andal openly endorsed the candidacies of Nationalista Party bet Manny Villar and his spokesperson Gilbert Remulla while he was being transferred from the National Bureau of Investigation detention cell to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig. “Basta alam ko, noong isang araw hindi dilaw ang kulay ng baller na suot-suot niya sa TV.”

Aquino also corrected reports circulated by the Villar camp that it was the late President Cory Aquino who appointed the elder Andal to his post in 1986. “Vice Mayor lang si Andal Sr. noong dumating ang EDSA. Isa siya sa na-replace na OIC (officer-in-charge). Yung OIC dating pulis, Ampatuan din ang surname, ang nagrekomenda si Zacarias Candao. Si Candao ay governor ng Maguindanao noon na tinalo ng kakampi naming.”

Aquino added he and other opposition senatorial candidates had fallen victim to cheating by the Ampatuans in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the 2007 elections. In the Ampatuans’ bailiwick in Maguindanao, the opposition senatorial slate was trounced 12-0 by the administration’s Team Unity.

Aquino said he and his supporters are preparing against cheating in ARMM and in other areas where poll fraud is likely to occur. “We are preparing nationwide to safeguard our votes, not just in one area but in many areas. We have 225,000 watchers ready and their ranks may even grow.”
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Liberal Party senatorial bet and Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros also laughed at the news that Ampatuan Jr. was endorsing the candidacy of Noynoy, Sen. Mar Roxas and herself.

"It's ridiculous," said an amused Hontiveros, adding that only those who are mentally disturbed would orchestrate the endorsement. She said that the endorsement was suspect.

"Is this the quid pro quo for his release?" asked Hontiveros observing that the endorsement was made after DOJ secretary dropped the murder charges against the Ampatuans despite the strong evidence against them. She thinks that the perpetrator of the horrible massacre could have been asked by his number one supporter Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to 'endorse' the Liberal Party in order to denigrate them.

"Clearly this is yet another black propaganda from the Villaroyo camp," said Hontiveros. "Just look at the timeline. The suspect of the Maguindanao Massacre endorsed the Villaroyo camp. There were reports that members of Nacionalista party visited the Ampatuans. Moreover, they were seen wearing orange ballers and when asked, Ampatuan unequivocably expressed his support to Villaroyo. Now that it has backfired, they are desperately using this endorsement against LP."

"It's Ampatuan who needs to undergo a pschiatric test," the senatoriable added as the Liberal Party has always been consistent in condemning the horrid killing of 57 people last November. "Kung sa akin lang dapat nasa kulungan ang mga ito," said Hontiveros.