VILLAR NOT TO BLAME OVER PANGILINAN FIASCO

NAGA CITY -- Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said Senate President Manuel Villar, Jr. should not be blamed for the fiasco that has hounded the opposition over the inclusion of Sen. Francis Pangilinan in its senatorial slate as a guest candidate.

Pimentel was reacting to the statement of former Sen. Ernesto Maceda that this problem would not have surfaced if Villar had not persuaded former President Joseph Estrada to give Pangilinan a slot in the opposition lineup as guest candidate, the same privilege given to Villar.

Sen. Villar is an asset of the Genuine Opposition. He isnt a puppeteer that can dictate on Kiko Pangilinan on what to do in politics. That Kiko opted to take the midstream is not Villars fault, he said.

Top leaders of GO have decided to drop Pangilinan from the oppositions senatorial slate after he expressed no interest in joining their campaign sorties, including the proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo last Feb. 24.

Pimentel said the opposition will gain nothing by indulging in fault-finding over this unfortunate turn of events.