Biazon on Palace offer: I won’t bite

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said yesterday he will not "bite the bait" being offered by the administration for him to abandon the Senate opposition.

"I can’t violate my contract with the Filipino people because it was the Filipino people who elected me to office as a member of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)... I will remain with the opposition," Biazon said during "Kapihan sa Sulo" breakfast forum in Quezon City.

Biazon rejected the administration offer six days after Sen. Robert Jaworski defected to the administration bloc on July 21, breaking a month-long 12-12 deadlock.

The administration’s 13-11 edge was further bolstered when Sen. Blas Ople agreed to serve in the Arroyo administration as foreign secretary, bringing the Senate tally to 13-10.

In an apparent attempt to solidify the administration majority, presidential aides and allied lawmakers continued to woo other senators, particularly Biazon, by offering key Senate committee chairmanships.

The Senate foreign relations committee, which used to be chaired by Ople, would now go to Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate defense committee.

The defense committee, on the other hand, was publicly offered to Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief.

He confirmed that administration senators and key presidential aides have indeed offered the Senate defense committee if Biazon would leave the LDP, join the ruling Lakas-NUCD party and support the President’s anti-terrorism agenda.

"(But) why should I accept (these terms)?" Biazon asked reporters, adding that he had consistently opposed the administration’s policy on the RP-US "Balikatan" exercises that are set to officially end on Wednesday.

The senator said he was not against joint military exercises but he was not in favor of allowing US troops to join combat patrols or allowing American soldiers to shoot at Abu Sayyaf bandits.

He stressed, however, that he is willing to work in "critical collaboration" with the Arroyo administration "without compromising my checks and balances function as a member of the opposition." – With Perseus Echeminada