DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. yesterday said he will quit his post in two or three weeks to focus on his 2010 presidential bid, but was mum on who will replace him.Teodoro, set to be formally endorsed next month as Malacañang candidate under the Lakas-Kampi coalition, began saying his goodbyes, starting with defense department personnel.
Teodoro assumed the defense portfolio in August 2007, replacing then National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales who occupied the post briefly.
Teodoro said he is wrapping up pending jobs at the department in the next two weeks, including those related with the Reconstruction Commission established by Malacañang for the rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by storm "Ondoy" and typhoon "Pepeng."
Before he leaves, Teodoro said he would have already set in place the priority areas to be benefited by the P12 billion supplemental budget approved by Congress to address the effects of recent typhoons.
"I cannot let myself to be left behind for long," said Teodoro, whose concurrent post as chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council has kept him away for the past weeks from the political trail.
Asked about his immediate political plans, Teodoro said there was nothing concrete yet on who will be his running-mate even as reports said he was eyeing Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, who Teodoro called "a top performing governor."
When asked if he has enough funds for his candidacy, Teodoro said that will be "a party matter."
"It’s not a personal matter. If I spend my own money for this, forget it," he said.
On the presidential candidacy of resigned public works secretary
Hermogenes Ebdabe Jr., Teodoro said he does not expect that the administration vote will be divided because "the consensus of the administration is clear" is to field him (Teodoro) as its standard bearer.
In Malacañang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said around 15 Cabinet members will resign to run next year, but he said there will be no vacuum in the leadership as they will be replaced by career undersecretaries.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando said he is prepared to run for president next year as an independent.
"I am dead serious. I will run even without the party’s endorsement," Fernando said hinting that he may carry the banner of the old Lakas party which merged with the Kampi last May to form the ruling coalition.
At the Comelec, the first case to disqualify former President Joseph Estrada from his second presidential candidacy was filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano.
In an eight-page petition, Lozano called on the Comelec to disqualify Estrada even before the filing of his certificate of candidacy next month on the ground that "the Constitution provides no presidential re-election."
"Giving due course to this petition will give him speedy trial and fair opportunity to be heard. It will afford the commission sufficient time for thorough and just deliberation," Lozano said.
Lozano, a known Marcos loyalist, earned notice after he repeatedly filed impeachment complaints against President Arroyo, ahead of the principal complaints, which opposition quarters tagged as sham complaints intended to favor Arroyo.
Cavite Gov. Ireneo Maliksi led hundreds of Cavite officials and followers in affiliating with the Liberal Party and committing full support to the 2010 LP tandem of Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and Sen. Mar Roxas.
Over 56 local officials from 20 towns, three cities and seven congressional districts of Cavite province joined Maliksi in the "symbolic" oath-taking at the Balay Expo Centro in Cubao, Quezon City.
Aquino and Roxas welcomed Maliksi and other Cavite local officials.
"This is a happy occasion for all of us. Malugod naming tinatanggap ang pagpasok ni Gov. Maliksi at ang kanyang mga kasamahan sa Liberal Party," said Aquino.
Maliksi appealed for LP unity, calling on Roxas and Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to settle their factional dispute.
At the Nacionalista Party camp, Sen. Manny Villar is in thick of preparations to welcome four provincial governors and about 1,000 of their followers who bolted the administration to join the NP.
The four are Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund "LRay" Villafuerte Jr., who is the national chairman of the League of Provinces of the Philippines; Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Ace Barbers; Davao del Sur Gov. Douglas "Dodo" Cagas; and Biliran Gov. Rogelio "Roger" Espina.
San Juan City Mayor Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito, Estrada’s son, dared former President Fidel Ramos to make good on his earlier statement that he is considering seeking a comeback in Malacañang.
Ejercito, however, said Ramos should brace himself for the wrath of the ordinary people.
"Let him run, so he can feel the Filipino people’s anger against him," Ejercito said, reacting to Ramos’s comments the other day on the downsides of Estrada as a 2010 candidate. – Victor Reyes, Regina Bengco, Ashzel Hachero, Angela Lopez de Leon and Gerard Naval
Source: http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct27/news3.htm
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