The "Team Unity" of the Administration is on a two-day sortie here.

And "then the Circus came to town", Paul Williams sang, but Bohol is certainly not "frightened by the clowns." That is because Bohol is unabashedly pro-administration country.

In 2004, Bohol was one of the five provinces, that gave President GMA a resounding margin over Opposition candidate, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. - with over 200,000 vote difference.

The other GMA bailiwicks included the traditional Cebu voters - who think Gloria Arroyo is as Cebuano as "buwad danggit" and "kalamay." The others would be understandable: Pampanga and Negros Occidental - home-provinces of the president and First Gentleman, respectively.

But what of Bohol? Didn't GMA's late father-president Diosdado "Poor Boy from Lubao" Macapagal beat black and blue Bohol's Favorite Son Carlos P. Garcia in the 1961 presidential elections - that broke many a Boholano's heart? That is history.

Well, Bohol's governor Rico Aumentado and the three incumbent congressmen (Chatto, Cajes and Jala) have clear gateway passes to the corridors of the Palace - loyal allies of the president all, come hell or high water. You saw it yesterday in that meeting with PGMA-where 47 towns were all represented strongly by administration lieutenants-one begins to wonder where the so-called local Opposition has been hiding these days.

Strategically speaking, the Bohol visit is a shot in the arm for the Team Unity spirit.

Not only will they be living witnesses to the resounding acceptance here of the GMA Governance in an almost monopolistic way - that should lift their sagging mood (no matter how well they are camouflaged) after the most recent SWS Survey - by far the most credible private election survey entity in the last many years - showed the GO (Genuine Opposition - to include "independent" Gringo Honsan) dominate the senatorial survey result 9-3.

The tentative "winners" are: (Genuine Opposition) Legarda, Pangilinan, Lacson, Villar, Escudero, Cayetano, (Noynoy) Aquino, Osmeña, and independent Honasan and the (Team Unity) Sotto, Recto and Arroyo.

Team Unity, however, is confident that the endorsement of the so-called local administration men will further improve the 9-3 rankings in the coming weeks. It is a fact though that only a few local candidates will carry a 12-0 slate for either party.

Only those, in fact, who are ultra-partisan would vote for a 12-0 slate for there are certainly good "senatorial" materials from both camps. Besides, there will always be a "re-alignment" of political forces-once the "official" administration candidates at the local level are chosen.

Inevitably, there will emerge what is dubbed as the "coalition of the disgruntled" which can put up a common candidate against the "official candidate" or grow into tentacles of varied parties, void of platforms, but full of personal interests. Such is Philippine politics.

Of course, we no longer live in the Martial Law years where the KBL (Kilusan ng Bagong Lipunan) was a monolithic political juggernaut-that breathing outside it was like inhaling poison from the air - where annihilation was only just a matter of time. Today we are witnessing the emergence of two political titans, sandwiching the true opposition, in the names of the Lakas and Kampi - which is nothing but an "exercise of political accommodation." This anomalous if somewhat incestuous co-existence of two parties is springing from the fact that PGMA is the founding member of Kampi while remaining president of the Lakas.

Two vote-rich provinces like Cebu and Bulacan provinces are cases in point. Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia bolted the Lakas to wear the Kampi jersey; ditto for outgoing Bulacan Governor Josefina de la Cruz and 21 mayors. In Tagbilaran City itself, while former city mayor Joe Torralba appears to be the Lakas bet, incumbent mayor Dan Lim seems veering towards a Kampi uniform.

Governor Rico Aumentado, and 1st District Representative Edgar Chatto and 2nd District's Roberto Cajes could romp away with the reelection contests with token Opposition - if the latter doesn't unite in a big way.

We have always been against bitterly-fought electoral contests that bring out both violence and caches of funds from many camps - that will corrupt the electoral process and give Philippine elections a bad name. But we are equally against the absence of Opposition that will impose a "thought monopoly" on the voters' minds.

There is no party that is so good as to be totally blameless and no party wisdom that cannot learn a thing or two from opposing views - since all of us have our blind spots-the closer to power, the more blurred the vision, at certain times.

The Administration is firing the first salvo - and all voters should listen. When the Genuine Opposition blows into town, they should do the same.

Choose the best from the field - by discerning the competent from those who appear to be, the sincere from the opportunist, the servant leader and the Pied Piper.

It is not always best to vote straight for any party since this country does not really have a clearly delineated party platform, so the choices the voters make must be more individual - oriented.

It there are no 12 senatoriables qualified to go to the august Senate halls - there is no law that forces a voter to fill the whole slate. Just make sure though that no unseen hand fills in those empty slots - cross them out to prevent any unlawful entry into the ballot.

More important than who wins this election, however, is the credibility that this exercise will be marked by the people and the international community. The ramparts of our democracy have been badly seared by the allegations of electoral fraud during the 2004 polls - a nightmare that refuses to go away. The 2007 elections could be our chance to restore the image of suffrage as a means of democracy; as a tool of democracy.

A fraudulent 2007 election will be bad for the country - regardless of who the winners will be.

In the meantime, welcome to Team Unity - and savor Bohol's best while you are here.