Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:20:00 11/08/2009
Filed Under: Politics, Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections
MANILA, Philippines--Two rival parties are raiding the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD and its traditional bailiwicks, thus changing the political terrain ahead of the May 2010 national elections.The Liberal Party (LP) seems to be ahead of the Nacionalista Party (NP) in the raiding mission and is now reassembling the late former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino’s “yellow army.”
Mayors Alfredo Lim of Manila and Hernani Braganza of Alaminos, Pangasinan, members of Cebu’s perpetually bickering Osmeña clan, Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco, and Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte’s daughter Joy, who is running for vice mayor, are only a few of those who have ditched political affiliations and are now backing Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, LP standard-bearer and Cory Aquino’s only son.
Even Cavite Gov. Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi, who ran and won as governor under the administration banner in 2007, has defected.
Lim was an avid supporter of Cory Aquino. The LP and his own Laban para sa Kapayapaan, Katarungan at Kaunlaran have agreed to join forces for next year’s polls, and a memorandum of understanding is to be signed Monday at the Bonifacio Shrine in Manila.
The site is memorable: It was where, in 1998, Lim declared his (unsuccessful) presidential candidacy with Cory Aquino endorsing him.
Among those now under the LP roof are movers and shakers in local politics.
Braganza is known to be very close to President Macapagal-Arroyo, having been a big help in her 2004 victory at the polls by virtue of his expertise as a political operator.
A nephew of former President Fidel Ramos who held the defense portfolio during the Aquino administration, Braganza took along with him from the ranks of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD fellow Pangasinense Rep. Victor Agbayani, North Cotabato Rep. Bernardo Piñol and Zamboanga del Sur Vice Gov. Roseller Ariosa.
More than 100 local executives, mostly belonging to the original Lakas-CMD party, stood with Braganza et al. in the Friday swearing in of new LP members, which was attended by Noynoy Aquino and his running mate, Sen. Mar Roxas. (See related story on Front Page.)
It is believed that the LP and NP are somehow taking advantage of the administration’s continuing inability to get a running mate for its presumptive standard-bearer, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.
NP haul
In an interview Saturday, NP spokesperson and senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla said the biggest problem saddling Lakas-Kampi-CMD was “the unwillingness of many national politicians to be associated with the administration.”
The NP led by Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. has as its new recruits four governors, four vice governors and at least 240 other officials and aspirants for local posts in Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Pangasinan, Quirino, Ifugao, Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.
The four governors were all members of the old Lakas-CMD party—Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. of Camarines Sur, Rogelio Espina of Biliran, Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur and Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, the founder of the so-called “Spice Boys” in the House of Representatives in the early years of the Arroyo administration.
But Villar’s biggest catch could be Sen. Loren Legarda, the declared vice presidential aspirant of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).
The negotiation for their tandem is “90 percent complete,” according to an NP stalwart who is privy to the talks but unauthorized to divulge details in public.
Other recruiting grounds
The NP is also recruiting from among longtime members of the LP, the Marcos-era Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), and other parties.
Early this week, Vice Governors Odi Fausto of Cagayan, Ramil Hernandez of Laguna, Windell Chua of Ilocos Norte, and Pasencia Bacani of Quirino were sworn in before Villar in a ceremony held at the historic (and now Villar-owned) Laurel House in Mandaluyong City.
Fausto, a long-time LP member and a president of the Liga ng mga Barangay in Cagayan for 12 years, is running for reelection.
“I believe that it is Senator Villar who possesses the best qualities called for by the hard times for the sensitive position of the presidency,” Fausto said.
Hernandez, of the United Opposition (UNO), is eyeing the gubernatorial post in Laguna. He took his oath along with his prospective running mate, Los Baños Mayor Caesar Perez, his wife Councilor Ruth Hernandez, and actress Angelica Jones, who is aspiring for a board member’s seat.
Chua came from the KBL, and Bacani, from the original Kampi.
Earlier, over 1,000 aspirants for local posts in Tarlac (Central Luzon), Camarines Sur (Bicol region) and Surigao del Norte (Mindanao) were sworn in as new NP members.
The NP is said to be recruiting Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.—reportedly in the senatorial slate of declared presidential aspirant Joseph Estrada—in a bid to secure the so-called “Solid North.”
LP campaign manager Florencio Abad predicted that the transfer of influential allies of the administration to the opposition would intensify this month as the Dec. 1 deadline for the filing of candidacies nears.
Asked by the Inquirer if the NP could be jealous of the LP’s catch, Abad said: “That’s not the end of it. The exodus from the administration parties is still to come. Abangan (Watch out for it)!”
Abad explained, however, that the Osmeñas of Cebu were not actually joining the LP but had formed a coalition with it for the purposes of the 2010 elections.
Vote-rich Cebu provided Ms Arroyo the lead of one million votes over the late opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. when she sought a fresh six-year mandate in 2004.
But now, the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), a regional political party based in Cebu City, has thrown its support behind the LP, Abad said.
He said Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, former Cebu Gov. Emilio “Lito” Osmeña and former Senators John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña and Serge Osmeña had set aside their political differences to back the Aquino-Roxas tandem.
Specifically, the LP has entered into an election coalition with Tomas Osmeña’s BOPK, Lito Osmeña’s Promdi (which backed the presidential candidacy of the late Sen. Raul Roco in 2004), Sonny Osmeña’s Panaghiusa, and Serge Osmeña, who will be part of the coalition’s Senate slate.
‘People’s coalition’
And more are joining what Abad called the “people’s coalition” of the LP.
Representatives Cuenco, Raul del Mar and Simeon Kintanar and the family of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. are now also on board, Abad said, “not to mention broad support from business, academe, civil society and sectoral organizations.”
“Isn’t that formidable?” he said.
Even actor Cesar Montano—who ran but lost under the administration’s Team Unity senatorial slate in 2007, and whom Ms Arroyo named ambassador to the Unesco—has left the administration.
The LP has designated Montano party provincial chair in Bohol. He will join the gubernatorial race and will be pitted against the incumbent, Erico Aumentado.
The Guingonas and Acostas of Mindanao have likewise put their political differences behind them, with Rep. Teofisto Guingona III and former Rep. Nereus Acosta joining the LP.
Exodus expected
Sought for comment, Ray Roquero, Lakas-Kampi-CMD deputy secretary general, said it was expected that members who were not chosen as official administration candidates in their localities would defect to the opposition parties.
“The Lakas-Kampi-CMD is realistic in its approach to local politics. We expect to lose some local members, but these losses are not going to hurt us,” Roquero said, adding:
“We are choosing only the best candidates, and the best will stay with us.”
Roquero said the majority of the ruling party’s members were backing Teodoro as standard-bearer.
He said more than 700 of the municipal mayors nationwide had also endorsed the 45-year-old Teodoro, whom he described as “the best man from among all the presidential candidates to lead our country in the coming years.”
The mayors are members of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino and NPC.
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091108-234895/Defections-rock-Lakas
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