Mr. Noted, Senator Francis Pangilinan, has vowed to block the appointment of Atty. Adel Tamano as general counsel of the Blue Ribbon Committee. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who chairs the said committee, withdrew the plan to forestall an ugly confrontation in the mongrel majority. Tamano instead was appointed president of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Mr. Noted is now Mr. Blocker.

Pangilinan has not explained his opposition to the appointment of Tamano, but one theory floating around is vendetta. From Ellen Tordesillas:

It was Tamano who reportedly gave Pangilinan an ultimatum to attend the GO proclamation rally and its sorties if he wanted to be drafted into the GO senatorial lineup. Pangilinan stuck to his independent stance and was subsequently dropped from the opposition slate. He won his senatorial bid just the same.

Another theory is that Mr. Noted is just delivering from the Fortress a message to Senator Manny Villar. Again, from Ellen Tordesillas:

A source said Pangilinan was merely delivering Malacañang’s message to Villar on Tamano. Arroyo’s advisers are thinking that it’s bad enough that the Blue Ribbon committee went to their “enemy”. They foresee more problems if Cayetano is in partnership with a popular, principled general counsel.

Malacañang sees Tamano as an opposition senatorial bet in 2010 and they do not want to give him a platform for his future political plans.

Malacañang found a perfect hatchet man for Tamano in the person of Mr. Noted who has an axe to grind with the GO spokesman. Days before the opposition proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda, GO leaders issued an ultimatum to Pangilinan, whom they adopted as guest candidate, to decide whether he would join the GO rally or be dropped from the slate. Pangilinan opted to be “independent” and GO settled with 11 candidates.

Sources said Pangilinan takes it against Tamano that he is seen as an opportunist.

I have another theory. I find the personal vendetta to be amusing but lousy, unless of course Mr. Noted is that kind of man. The Fortress theory is insidious, and I am getting goosebumps when I think of it – it meant that Mr. Noted was a Trojan horse. Anyway, my theory centers on 2010. What is Mr. Noted’s plan for that year? Unless he is content serving his six year in the Senate, he should have no plans. However, he is on his second term, and come 2013, he can’t run for the Senate again. Hmm. Maybe a vice-presidential run is possible. The presidency is too early for him.

Where does Tamano comes in? Ay, there’s the rub. Well, is Tamano a vice-presidentiable? What do you think? Is he a political threat?