LP vs NP word war heats up

Stalwarts of the Liberal Party (LP) and the Nacionalista Party (NP) accused each other Thursday of being inconsistent in their stands against the Arroyo administration amid their presidential bets' close rivalry in public opinion polls. At the weekly Serye press conference in Quezon City, NP leader Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico said LP members are "sleeping with the enemy" by claiming to be part of the opposition when some of them, like the LP bloc in the House of Representatives, are coalesced with the administration.

"The Liberal Party is a party of collaborators," Suplico said. He noted that even though LP chairman emeritus and former Senate President Jovito Salonga led the filing of the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez, only one LP member, Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin" Tañada III, endorsed the complaint. Gutierrez was a batchmate of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo at the Ateneo Law School. "I challenge the Liberal Party to break away and join the opposition...You have to walk the talk," Suplico said. But Tañada said Suplico should "look at his own party" first before slinging mud at the LP, adding that the LP came up with a firm stance in past impeachment complaints against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. [See: Teodoro: No mudslinging between me and Noynoy] He also said that Salonga's initiative against Gutierrez was done in his capacity as a leader of Kilosbayan, a non-government organization, and not necessarily as one of the LP's heads. "It's hard to say we are sleeping with the enemy. You should look at the mirror," Tañada said in an interview with reporters. The LP and the NP are the country's two oldest political parties that composed what was then considered as the pre-martial law two-party system, until martial law resulted in their fragmentation. Both parties gradually reorganized and regained strength especially after the 1986 EDSA revolt. The LP recently named Senator Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III as its standard bearer, while the NP is set to field Senator Manuel Villar Jr. Both have topped recent surveys on preferred presidential candidates. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV