Excerpts from ANC's interview with Senator Franklin Drilon and Congressman Toby Tiangco
ANC Presents: Election Watch hosted by Ms. Lynda Jumilla
January 29, 2013

JUMILLA: How did you end up with Team PNoy?

DRILON: These are the people who the President chose to be his team in order to push his reforms for the last three years of his administration. It is clear to him: ito ang kasama ko sa tuwid na daan.

JUMILLA: Yung voice over mismo is the President himself, is it indicative of the commitment on his part in campaigning for Team PNoy?

DRILON: Yes. He is going to spend his political capital for his candidates. He is not afraid to spend his political capital because there are a lot of reforms that he has to do in the last three years of his administration. Therefore, it is essential that he should have the majority in the Senate in order that he can push these reforms.

I've been in the Senate for 15 years. This is one of the most unmanageable groups.

JUMILLA: As the recent event would show, ha?

DRILON: As the recent event would show. It is the most unmanageable. It is about time that a strong leader like the President that we draw the line: this is his team and he is asking his people to support his team because he has a number of reforms to push for the last three years of his administration.

I have always told Toby: let's define the lines. We are the administration; you are the opposition. There is nothing wrong with that. In democracy, opposition is necessary.

These recent surveys indicate, in effect, the confusion of the people: sino ba ang kasama ng Presidente? Sino ba ang hindi? Kaya that is why, that is the reason. Yes, the President has stated his political capital. He said "this is my team; ito ang aking mga kasama." Kung may tiwala sila kay Presidente, iboboto nila itong kasama ni Presidente.

JUMILLA: Are you going to be called any other name?

TIANGCO: Definitely, just UNA.

JUMILLA: Senator Drilon raised this confusion probably to those who are looking at these three common candidates. Where do they stand right now?

TIANGCO: Ganoon pa rin ang stand namin. They are common candidates. Hindi pa nagbabago yung stand namin.

JUMILLA: In terms of campaigning, what will be the rule?

TIANGCO: Sa amin, walang rule. We are very open to them as guest. We will treat them with hospitality and respect. Wala kaming ipinagbabawal. They are free to join us, welcome to join us kapag ang schedule nila ay pwede.

JUMILLA: You've been going around. Have you been inviting these three common candidates?

TIANGCO: Formally, we have not invited them. But yung isa sa kanila, humingi ng schedule sa amin. Kasi we don't like to put them on the spot. Ayaw naman naming gipitin sila na alam na nga namin na hindi sila pinapayagan sa amin tapos pipilitin mo silang sumama. Para namang you're putting them on the spot. But I think it will inevitably be decided - magkakakitaan iyan - doon sa February 12 dahil sabay ang rally namin. Makikita natin kung kaninong entablado sila aakyat.

JUMILLA: Where will you have your proclamation rally?

TIANGCO: Cebu. Hindi namin sinasabing bawal silang umakyat sa kabila. Ang sinasabi lang namin ay kung aakyat sila sa kabila, sana umakyat din sila sa entablado namin.

JUMILLA: Saan ba ang proclamation rally?

DRILON: We will have our proclamation rally in Manila as it is traditionally done.

JUMILLA: What is your position hearing the issue earlier that Sec. Abaya said hindi pwedeng magkampanya sa kanila?

DRILON: Yes. These three candidates are our candidates. We thank UNA that they adopted our candidates. But they are basically part of Team PNoy. That they were adopted by UNA is a decision that UNA had to make. Siguro kulang sila ng kandidato kaya nanghiram sa amin, pero okay lang iyon. Seriously, we have to do that because, precisely, we want to define where we are and where they are. I repeat, my 15 years of experience in the Senate, they are the most unmanageable. Look, in the recent past and even today, can you tell me who is in the majority and the minority in the Senate?

JUMILLA: No, not as like as before.

DRILON: Can we try to bring that back as before? The President sponsored the sin tax bill - I was the sponsor on the floor - ako ay hirap na hirap dahil hindi mo na alam kung sino ang kasama mo; sino ang kakampi mo at sino ang hindi. This is not healthy for our governance. We might as well campaign on the basis of a platform. Our platform of the President is daang matuwid. This is our platform and this is our advocacy. He is taking his political capital on this advocacy. He has chosen a team that he will tell in his people: give me the majority in the Senate that can help me push my programs for the last three years.

TIANGCO: Sa amin naman maliwanag. Yung sa kanila daang matuwid; kami naman daang maganda. Maliwanag sa amin iyan. Even sa ads ang sinabi nila daang matuwid; kami daang maganda. Pwedeng tuwid pero lubak-lubak. Dapat maganda.

DRILON: I'm glad that Cong. Toby raised that. Sa amin daw, lubak-lubak. We will face the people and we will tell this is our advocacy, this is pour platform. We are criticized that we are lubak-lubak. We will face the people: is it true? If 80% of the people trust the President, then 80% of the people will vote for the President's team.

Yes, we need the opposition to criticize us. How would we know na mali kami o tama?

JUMILLA: Are you going to sanction or prevent the three common candidates from going to their rally?

DRILON: It is our understanding that they are our candidates. You know, the position of these three candidates, nakakainggit kasi pinag-aagawan. But really, I will not...they are mature enough to know that they are with the President, they willingly joined the President's team. They should advocate the President's agenda.

JUMILLA: What will happen if they join some sorties of UNA?

DRILON: If you ask me, siguro, I will just frown at them. Ano ba iyan? (laugh)

JUMILLA: May pangako ba sila?

DRILON: Well, that is implied because they are in the President's team. Hindi na nga sila sinama sa ad ng UNA.

TIANGCO: Doon sa UNA ads, I went to see two of them - kasi yung isa nabalitaan kong sinabihan na - ako yung nagpaliwanag sa kanila. Sana maintindihan ninyo na may 9 kaming kandidato na exclusively UNA at naiintindihan namin na common candidates kayo. Pero kung 12 kayong lalabas, kokonti yung oras para doon sa 9 na candidates namin. I told to the two of them na talang ima-maximize namin yung exposure for the nine, pero sinama naman namin sa huli.

Doon sa kung hindi sila pumunta, katulad ng sinabi ko, I hope to see them in Cebu with us. Whether they will be sanctioned, ang hinihingi lang namin equal treatment.

JUMILLA: Based on the statement of Senator Drilon, it would seem that they have already made the choice. The fact they were there during the proclamation, why do you hang on to them?

TIANGCO: Because may pinag-usapan din kami, I mean hindi naman sila magiging guest candidates kung hindi kami nag-usap. Mayroon din silang commitments.

JUMILLA: What are the commitments?

TIANGCO: The commitments were privately said. I am not at liberty to say that. But yung equal treatment na hinihingi namin, they were committed to do that. It is not based on a detailed list that you can't do this, do that. Ang hinihingi lang namin ay tratuhin kami ng equal.

JUMILLA: May tampo ba ang UNA doon sa tatlo?

TIANGCO: Dito sa pulitika, bawal ang magtampo at magdamdam. Si Grace ang pinakamalaki ang inangat, but I will not hesitate to say na mas maganda sana ang showing ni Grace kung sumama siya exclusively with UNA at hindi as guest candidate. Yung mga loyalists ni FPJ napipilitang pumili dahil nagkahiwalay.

JUMILLA: What is stopping UNA from declaring you're opposition?

TIANGCO: Sinabi ko na constructive opposition. I qualified always 100% constructive opposition.

DRILON: From what I have heard from Toby, this is precisely what is wrong in our system today. He said na parang mag-asawa na naghiwalay dahil hindi nakasama ni Grace si JV Binay at Erap. Ito naman ay kaya nga nagiging personality oriented ang ating pamumulitika. We are becoming personality oriented and we have been trying to get out of it. Today, with a leader trusted by the 80% of our people, it is the time that we draw the line.

Let's face it, Lynda. I am sure Toby won't admit it. but the objective, in any not only in UNA, in general on opposition, for the last three years of this administration, we are trying to make this administration a lame duck. There is nothing wrong with that, by the way, because you compete for political power and therefore, part of that, you try to make the incumbent sitting President a lame duck. We are conscious of that. The President is conscious of that. And we draw the line. We will not be lame duck. We will have the majority of the people with us because we still have reforms to do.

JUMILLA: Sabi mo, 80% supported the President, but VP Binay also has high trust rating.

DRILON: Fine.

TIANGCO: Alam mo, Lynda, nang sinabi ni Senator Drilon yung 80%, pinigilan ko na. Since sa iyo nanggaling, 85%. Ang dami ng nagsasabong doon sa dalawa, pinag-aaway yung dalawa.

Yung sa personality based politics, kultura natin iyan at wala tayong magagawa. Ito naman, sana huwag magalit si PNoy, produkto rin siya ng personality-based politics. Bakit ba siya binoto ng tao? Isa sa mga dahilan ay anak siya ni Ninoy at Cory. Definitely, he benefited from this.

JUMILLA: Talaga bang gusto ninyong maging lame duck si PNoy?

TIANGCO: No. Itong mga debateng ito, parte ito ng pulitika. Kapag sinabi mong gusto mong maging lame duck ang Presidente, para mo nang sinabing ayaw mong umsad o umunlad ang ating bansa. Hindi totoo that we want a lame duck president.

JUMILLA: Do you think this is already position for 2016?

DRILON: Yes. Let us call a spade a spade. Maybe not in your show they will never admit that they are trying to make the President a lame duck. But in their internal meetings, natural iyon. Huwag na tayong maglokohan. Let's call a spade a spade. You want to make the a lame duck administration so pagdating ng panahon na yung endorsement ng Pangulo ay hindi sa inyo, talagang balewala na. But that's a challenge for us. We will show that for the next three years, we will do things correctly; we will do things in a manner that a decent right-thinking will do regardless of a politics.

TIANGCO: I will not concede that we want to make the President a lame duck president. I agreed that we are competing with the LP, but we equally support the good programs of the administration. Yung LP lang ang katunggali namin sa pulitika.

DRILON: And the President happens to be our chairman.

TIANGCO: But he also happens to be the President of the Philippines.

JUMILLA: As I said, 2016, obviously VP Binay sila; sino ba ang mano ng LP?

DRILON: Mar Roxas.

JUMILLA: Pwede nang itaga sa bato?

DRILON: Oo, itaga mo sa bato. (laughs)

JUMILLA: Do you think that between now and 2016, there is some kind of preparation for Secretary Roxas...

DRILON: We are preparing by means of having following the matuwid na daan. That is our preparation. Because it is all about good governance. That is the advocacy of LP which the President is the chairman.

JUMILLA: Bakit sa tingin mo Grace Poe jumped 10 in the last survey?

DRILON: Maybe people already knew that she was running; kasi before hindi naman siya nagsasabi na tatakbo siya. When she was taken in as part of Team PNoy, that caused the spike in her ranking. But let me emphasize, this is just the start and a lot of things can happen. When you look at the January survey in the last election, you'll never recognize. This is just a start. Awareness is very critical. After awareness is the matter of conversion and this is where it is important because everybody can be aware of a candidate. But what he stands for is something that will endear him to the voter or what will convert the awareness into vote.

JUMILLA: There are three LP candidates na talagang LP, Jun Magsaysay, Jamby Madrigal and Bam Aquino. Why are they not performing as well as the others?

DRILON: They may not have the benefit yet of exposure that is needed. I am confident that we will recover. Jun Magsaysay was out of office for six years. But hindi matatawaran ang ginawa niya sa Senado. Bam, the moment he is exposed to the public, you'll be surprised of the approval rating, conversion that he will get. It is just a question of exposure. I am not worried at this stage.

JUMILLA: What is you campaign strategy?

DRILON: This is a media-driven campaign. Talagang ang mga sorties nito is more of media than any else.

JUMILLA: Do you feel the 120 minute total for the entire campaign is kulang?

DRILON: That is the law. We have just to follow it. that puts us all in equal footing.

JUMILLA: What's you strategy?

I think I agree na media-driven.

JUMILLA: Do you think you'll do a special push for them na hindi makaangat? Tinting Cojuangco and Mitos Magsaysay?

TIANGCO: Ang problema hindi kami nakapag-subscribe dito (SWS Survey), hindi namin alam yung weak and strong points. But we will have our internal survey.

JUMILLA: Final words?

DRILON: This is the time that we draw the line. We are Team PNoy. Yung hindi po Team PNoy, hindi aksama ni PNoy. Nasa taumbayan po iyan, kung kayo ay naniniwala kay Pangulong Noynoy, ito po ang kanyang hinaharap sa inyo na maging katulong niya sa Senado.

TIANGCO: Sa UNA, gaganda ang buhay. Ang kailangan natin, daang maganda, daan tungo sa magandang buhay. Kailangang maganda yung ginagawang anti-corruption drive, pero kailangang dagdagan ang mga proyekto para maiwasan ang kahirapan at mabigyan ng magandang trabaho ang mga kababayan.