Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — With less than a week to go before the May 9 elections, former Manila mayors Alfredo Lim and Lito Atienza joined forces in a last-ditch effort to unseat re-electionist Mayor Joseph Estrada.
The political rivals-turned-allies are under two different political parties: Lim is from the Liberal Party (LP), while Atienza, who is currently the Buhay Partylist congressional representative, is under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).
“What is past is past,” Lim said in a media forum in Manila on Wednesday (May 4).
“The enemy of your enemy is your friend. That should explain why we are allies now because we have a common enemy,” Atienza said.
“Erap is bad for Manila,” he said added, adding saying that another Estrada administration will “destroy” the city both he and Lim love.
Lim is eyeing a come back to City Hall in the upcoming elections, while Atienza’s son, Manila Councilor Ali Atienza, is running for vice mayor.
To formalize their alliance, the two former mayors dropped their running mates to make accommodations for each other.
Lim was initially teamed up with First District Rep. Benjamin Asilo, while the younger Atienza was the running mate of Fifth District Rep. Amado Bagatsing.
“I’m definitely not helping Amado,” said former Mayor Atienza.
For his part, Lim said LP standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II approved of his decision.
But Asilo said otherwise. He argued Lim does not have the backing of LP in his decision because the former mayor did not follow the right process under the party. He insisted it should be a collective decision to replace him as Lim’s running mate.
“That is a major breach of the rules and we’ll certainly open any member of the party to disciplinary sanctions,” Atty. Myra Villarica, Asilo’s legal counsel, said.
Lim said he tried to talk to Asilo a number of times but the vice mayoral candidate declined. Asilo cleared there was no call or any invite from Lim.
Regardless of Lim’s decision, Asilo stays in the race.
“Hindi tayo kayang paatrasin ng iisang tao lamang dahil ang tunay na boss natin dito ay ang mamamayan ng Maynila,” Asilo said.
[Translation: “We cannot be stopped by only one person because our real bosses are the residents of Manila.”]
Meanwhile, Estrada’s camp called Atienza and Lim’s actions a desperate move. Estrada defeated Lim by a slim margin in 2013.
