Genuine Opposition

Genuine Opposition
Genuine Opposition
Leader	Manny Villar
Founder	Jejomar Binay
Founded	2007
Dissolved	c. before 2010
Preceded by	Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino
Succeeded by	United Nationalist Alliance
Political parties	UNO; Liberal (Drilon wing); PMP; PDP–Laban; NPC (Escudero/Legarda wing); Nacionalista; KBL (Marcos wing); Aksyon; LDP (Trinidad/Calixto wing)
Slogan	One vote against the incumbent
	Politics of Philippines; Political parties; Elections;

Genuine Opposition (GO) was an electoral alliance in the Philippines that contested the 2007 Philippine general election. The alliance's members were in opposition to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It was originally called the United Opposition (UNO), founded by Makati mayor Jejomar Binay in June 2005 to unite all politicians who wanted to impeach President Arroyo. UNO then reorganized itself and changed its name to Grand and Broad Coalition (GBC), with the UNO party under that coalition. On February 15, 2007, the group changed its name again to Genuine Opposition after a meeting with Senate President Manny Villar due to the defection of senators Edgardo Angara, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, and Tito Sotto to Arroyo's senatorial slate, TEAM Unity.

In the Senate election, GO won seven of the 12 contested seats. They gained one more seat in 2011 as a result of an electoral protest, through which GO's Koko Pimentel replaced TEAM Unity's Migz Zubiri.^[1] However, GO failed to dominate the House of Representatives.

Coalition members[edit]

Mainstream party members:

United Opposition (UNO)
Liberal Party (LP-Drilon wing)
Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP)
PDP–Laban
Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC-Escudero/Legarda wing)
Nacionalista Party (NP)
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL-Marcos wing)
Aksyon Demokratiko (AD)

Background[edit]

The United Opposition Coalition was created by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay In June 2005 to unite all politicians who wished to impeach Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The UNO started scouting candidates for the Senate as early as October 2006 to claim a large share of the Senate seats. In January 2007, UNO started short-listing its nominees after a large number of interested personalities wanted to join the opposition. The UNO changed its name on February 12, 2007, at the Club Filipino in San Juan, Metro Manila to "Grand and Broad Coalition" (GBC). On February 15, 2007, the group changed its name again to "Genuine Opposition" (GO) after a meeting with Senate President Manny Villar in his office in Las Piñas. GO became the opposition coalition with eight parties under its wing, including its predecessor, UNO. Though Senate President Manny Villar and Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan are running under the Opposition, they remain independent candidates as in the 2001 election. On February 28, 2007, Genuine Opposition dropped Francis Pangilinan as its adopted candidate. After the elections, GO reverted to being the United Opposition, with Binay as head, but still maintaining the support of the other parties that comprised GO.

Slogan[edit]

The first slogan is "P L A N Co R E V O L T". P stands for Pimentel, L stands for Legarda, A stands for Alan, N stands for Noynoy, Co stands for Coseteng, R stands for Roco, E stands for Escudero, V stands for Villar, O stands for Osmeña, L stands for Lacson, and T stands for Trillanes. The PLAN Co REVOLT partylist (literally, My plan is to revolt) means "Revolt against corruption and poverty". The second slogan is "Isang boto lang po laban sa nakaupo." (literally, One vote against the incumbent.).

GO senatorial slate[edit]

Name	Party	Occupation
Benigno Aquino III	LP	Representative from Tarlac (1998–2007); only son of former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon C. Aquino (1986–1992) and the elder brother of the actress Kris Aquino.
Alan Peter Cayetano	NP	Representative from Taguig-Pateros (1998–2007); first son of late Senator Renato "Companero" Cayetano and the younger brother of current Senator Pia Cayetano (2004–2010). He is also the husband of the house representative of Taguig-Pateros Ma. Laarni Lopez-Cayetano.
Nikki Coseteng	Independent	former senator (1992–2001) and former Quezon City Representative (1987–1992).
Francis Escudero	NPC	House Minority Floor Leader (2001–2007) and Representative from Sorsogon (1998–2007), Lawyer and son of former Marcos cabinet member Salvador "Sonny" Escudero.
Panfilo Lacson	UNO	Senator (2001–present) and once aspired to be the mayor of Manila. He was also the former Chief of the Philippine National Police.
Loren Legarda	NPC	TV Personality (TV Journalist), former 2004 Vice Presidential candidate and former Senator (1998–2004).
John Henry Osmeña	UNO	former senator (1971–1972; 1987–1995; 1998–2004).
Koko Pimentel	PDP–Laban	1990 Bar Topnotcher, Lawyer, son of Senate Minority Floor Leader Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Sonia Roco	AD	Widow of late Senator (1992–2001), 1998 and 2004 presidential candidate, and Education Secretary Raul Roco (2001–2002) who died in 2005.
Antonio Trillanes	UNO	detained military officer, leader of the Magdalo group and the leader of the Oakwood Mutiny in Makati in 2003.
Manny Villar	NP	former Speaker of the House and former Senate President (2006–2008) and senator (2001–present).

Campaign team[edit]

Campaign Manager: Senator Serge Osmeña (PDP–Laban)
Deputy Campaign Manager: San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito (PMP)
Campaign Spokesman: Atty. Adel Tamano, former president of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

External links[edit]

Genuine Opposition's Official Website Archived July 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

References[edit]

^ Rood, Steven (August 10, 2011). "Philippine senator resigns seat in election controversy with deep roots". asiafoundation.org. The Asia Foundation. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.

[1] Rood, Steven (August 10, 2011). "Philippine senator resigns seat in election controversy with deep roots". asiafoundation.org. The Asia Foundation. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.

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