It is wrong to tag opposition coalition 1Sambayan as “yellow” or “liberals” because it is a “broad coalition” that represents different parties and sectors, one of its convenors said on Wednesday, June 9.
1Sambayan convenor Howard Calleja was on ANC to discuss the coalition’s role in the May 2022 polls. The group will come out with a final list of nominees for president this Saturday, June 12.
“1Sambayan is a broad coalition. They do not brand anybody. We are as inclusive as we can as long as they like the democratic principles, fight for the Constitution, fight for the rights of the Filipino people,” he said, adding that the “yellows” or “liberals” are only “part of the coalition under 1Sambayan.”
Calleja, a lawyer, argued that the coalition is united and open to everybody.
“We are not elitist. We have people from the urban poor, from labor, from peasant farmers, fishermen, from OFW, from all spectrum,” he said.
He did not deny that the coalition is “engaging” with the Liberal Party (LP) particularly since Vice President Leni Robredo, who is expected to be one of the nominees come Saturday, is LP’s chairperson.
READ: 1Sambayan welcomes Robredo’s openness for a possible presidential run in 2022
Calleja said that aside from Robredo, some leaders from the LP will also be a “part of the nominees that we would have come June 12.”
He’s not surprised that administration supporters are branding 1Sambayan as “yellow,” which was in reference to the LP and the Aquino family’s use of color yellow when former President Corazon Aquino died and her son, former President Benigno Aquino III, was later elected in office.
Pro-Duterte supporters are using the term yellow as a derogatory label to attack the neo-liberal principles they believe brought wealth only to the few, whom they call ”oligarchs."
“I understand that. You know, that’s the sad part of this administration. It is them who are labeling those that are saying things or maybe criticizing the administration as yellow or as opposition,” Calleja said.
He lamented that the term “yellow” is used to describe administration critics, whether they are from the LP or not.
But he stressed that 1Sambayan will, instead, “present an alternative.”
READ: 1Sambayan to release final nominees' list for 2022 polls on June 12
“If you want to call us an opposition, so be it. But what we have is an alternative candidate, and an alternative platform, an alternative roadmap for the recovery not only from the pandemic but also the recovery of the Philippine economy and society as well,” Calleja added.