Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:19:00 10/17/2009
Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Inquirer Politics, Elections, Politics
MANILA, Philippines — A Gibo-Loren tandem for 2010?Governors loyal to the Arroyo administration on Friday endorsed the potential ticket of Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. and Sen. Loren Legarda for the presidential race next year.
The executive committee of the League of Provinces of the Philippines met at Linden Suites in Pasig City and conducted a straw vote.
Only Camarines Sur Gov. El Ray Villafuerte and Davao del Sur Gov. Douglas Cagas did not participate, as the two officials are now members of the Nacionalista Party of Sen. Manuel Villar.
The results for the presidency are: Teodoro with 9 votes, Villar, 2, and Aquino, 1. Results for the vice presidency are: Legarda with 7 votes, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, 4, and Sen. Manuel Roxas, 2.
“The executive committee is overwhelmingly for a Gibo-Loren ticket,” said Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene “Migz” Dominguez, when contacted by phone.
Teodoro was picked by the 65-member national executive committee of the merged Lakas-Kampi-CMD last month as its standard bearer.
During that meeting, party members also expressed preference for Puno to be Teodoro’s running mate. But other members later floated another possible running mate, Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos who has refused the draft.
Legarda on the other hand was supposed to stick it out with party mate Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero for the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) ticket.
Titillated
Last week, Legarda hinted she was amenable to running for vice president and disclosed that five presidential hopefuls, including Teodoro, have asked her to be their running mate.
She appeared titillated by the governors’ endorsement, but was non-committal.
Legarda recognized that the executive board of the league was composed of the “most influential governors” in the country.
But in the meantime, she just wants to continue her work in environmental advocacy “to prevent further loss of lives and to help in the rehabilitation of damaged provinces and towns.”
“I am heartened and inspired, but remain firmly with the opposition,” said Legarda, who ran unsuccessfully with the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. in the 2004 elections.
Rizal Rep. Jack Duavit, NPC secretary general, said Friday it was still Escudero-Legarda for the NPC.
“Barring any accidents or forces of nature, we are locked in for Chiz and Loren. We feel they complement each other and their synergy at work is something to behold. There is no one-upmanship, no chip on their shoulder. That is rare to see these days. The tandem is inspiring,” said Duavit.
Continued alliance
In pushing for a Teodoro-Legarda ticket, Dominguez said the governors also agreed to push for a continuation of the alliance between Lakas-Kami-CMD, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino and the NPC.
“The coalition has been existing since 2004. It will be a perfect fit if Loren came out and joined us—that’s the NPC and probably the LDP—for a merger of the parties for the elections. We’ve done it in 2004, we believe we can sustain it in the 2010 elections,” said Dominguez.
Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara represented the LDP headed by her brother Sen. Edgardo Angara in the meeting, while Antique Gov. Sally Perez was there on behalf of the NPC.
Environmental advocacy
Legarda has conducted three Senate hearings on the massive floods that submerged Metro Manila and three provinces in Luzon following the onslaught of Tropicl Storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”
“I think we’ve been successful to a certain extent. No less than (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services) Pagasa chief Prisco Nilo said that if not for these hearings, the outdated protocol for water released from the dams would not have been updated,” she said.
Water released from the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan was blamed for the massive flooding that submerged the province and some parts of Central Luzon.
“But still, I don’t want to focus on politics because I find fulfillment and I find myself very useful in the work I’m doing both for my environmental advocacy and humanitarian work. I hope people will appreciate more the politics of performance than political campaigning,” Legarda said.
Asked what type of presidential candidate she was looking for, Legarda said the times needed “a sturdy and decisive leader because this is clearly an environmental crisis, which has translated into an environmental and humanitarian crisis.”
Short list
On Thursday, Legarda admitted that the list of presidential aspirants who were wooing her to be their No. 2 in the May 2010 polls had been shortened from five to three—Teodoro, Villar and Escudero.
Legarda had said she was actually “agonizing” over her political plans for 2010 following the sudden decision of Escudero, her party mate in the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), to postpone announcing his presidential run in deference to the victims of the massive floods and landslides.
“Barring any severe weather disturbance and other climatic matters, I will make my formal announcement within 10 days (on or before Oct. 24). I will give my formal decision not only on the position I will contest but also my progressive, patriotic and pro-environment platform,” she had said.
Duavit, NPC secretary general, disputed speculations that Escudero and Legarda did not have the financial muscle to battle other political parties in the 2010 election.
‘We have funds’
“We have more than enough funds for a nationwide campaign, funds for political ads, but what we do not have are funds to buy votes,” said Duavit, amid talks that Legarda was considering to run as vice president in another party because NPC founder Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco was scrimping on funds.
He reckoned that talks to split up Escudero and Legarda, even before they could formally announce their team-up, were coming from Malacañang.
“That shows how serious they are taking our party’s chances in 2010,” said Duavit, noting that both Escudero and Legarda have performed well in surveys although they have yet to formalize their candidacies.
A party source said the declaration of Escudero’s presidential bid had been rescheduled for Oct. 29 at the Bahay ng Alumni at his alma mater, University of the Philippines.
Legarda had said she will announce her candidacy by Oct. 24.
King’s ransom
Valenzuela Rep. Rex Gatchalian, the party spokesperson, said: “We believe that Senators Chiz and Loren will stay together. Both have assured the party in numerous occasions that they will stay with the party and will enter next year’s elections together as a formidable team.”
But should Legarda, who was rumored to have been offered a “king’s ransom” to be a vice presidential bet of another candidate, ditch Escudero, an NPC source said the soon-to-be youngest presidential candidate has a back-up plan of drafting “another lawmaker of presidential timber” as his running mate.
Still, Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco said that questions on who would replace Loren as Escudero’s partner was speculative and “this has no bearing at this time.”
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091017-230505/Pro-Arroyo-governors-endorse-Teodoro-Legarda-tandem
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