Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:03:00 11/09/2009
Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Civil & Public Services
MANILA, Philippines—The presidential derby widened on Sunday with former Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. formally announcing his intention to run under the Philippine Labor and Peasant Party and declaring “there’s no turning back.”A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and former chief of the Philippine National Police, the 60-year-old Ebdane is the latest aspirant for the No. 1 post in the May elections to announce his candidacy.
The former PNP director general said that with four decades of work experience in government, it would be a “sin of omission” if he did not run for president. He said he was seeking the endorsement of former President Fidel Ramos.
“I fight to win so there’s no turning back. I have crossed the bridge. I have no intention of going back,” Ebdane said after accepting his nomination during the national convention of the Philippine Labor and Peasant Party, formerly Lapiang Manggagawa.
“In my four decades in public service, where service 24/7 is the key to getting the job done, I realized that though I have helped to do much for our country, there is much more that needs to be done,” he said.
“I stand as the candidate with the first-hand working knowledge of how government really works and the track record to get things done,” said Ebdane, who resigned last month from the Cabinet.
He denied allegations that he was a stealth administration candidate out to destabilize the May elections, dismissing such insinuations as the work of people “having a nightmare.”
When asked about reports that Ramos was behind his candidacy, Ebdane said he had informed the former President of his intention to run and was hoping for his endorsement.
Wanted: Credible endorser
“I told him I was running. I was his aide since 1972 and he has helped me so much,” Ebdane said. “There is still no endorsement (but) I hope and pray . . . We need that endorsement because he (Ramos) is credible.”
Ebdane, the new chair of the Philippine Labor and Peasant Party, said he still did not have all the funds but added that he already had three nationwide organizations working for his candidacy “from the national to the barangay level.”
“I have many organizations working for me. I don’t know about the others. They might have the political party but I don’t know if they have the organization. In our long service in government, we have gained many friends,” Ebdane said.
Jose Malvar Villegas, president of the party that Ebdane said was registered with the Commission on Elections, said the group was also active in the formation of Lakas-Tao, Ramos’ political party, in the early 1990s before it morphed into the ruling Lakas-NUCD coalition during the Ramos administration.
“For every peso that (other candidates) will spend, I will only spend 10 to 25 centavos because my organizations are already in place. They have the provisions for deployment, accommodation, transportation, the crowd, so there’s no need for hakot power,” Ebdane said.
‘Everybody loves me’
When asked if the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the Philippine National Police was behind him, Ebdane said: “What I can say is they cannot use the PNP against me because the PNP loves me.”
“Even the AFP because they’re my friends. Practically everyone . . . the DND, DILG, DPWH. I have no enemies,” he added.
Ebdane, however, said it was the party chieftains of the ruling Lakas-Kampi coalition who wanted him to leave the Cabinet, not President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“There was no issue between me and my President. It was not the President who wanted me to leave but members of the administration party,” he said.
“If they do not want you any longer, why would you stay? So, I requested the President. She let me go. You can see if members of the family no longer want you, not necessarily your mother but the others on the side,” he said.
“In politics, you can’t agree all the time . . . I cannot be a member of the administration party because that’s closed already,” he added.
He still calls me ‘Sir’
Nevertheless, Ebdane said he remained a “friend” of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, the administration standard-bearer.
“We are friends and I respect him. I admire him and he also respects and admires me. When we speak to each other, he still calls me ‘Sir.’ We are like brothers,” Ebdane said.
Ebdane also noted that he had also “looked after” Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, when he served with the Presidential Security Group during the time of the late President Corazon Aquino.
Others who have announced their plans to run for president are Sen. Manny Villar, former President Joseph Estrada, environment activist Nicanor Perlas and Olongapo City Councilor JC de los Reyes.
No one is clean
Ebdane, however, said he felt that he was the “strongest” among the announced presidential candidates.
“I will win. I fight to win. Some people are trying to portray themselves as immaculately white, but no one has the moral ascendancy to say that they are clean. Nobody can say that,” Ebdane said, adding that he has not made a good showing in the surveys because he had only announced his intention to run recently.
He added in jest that even if the presidential aspirants engaged in a fun run, he would win.
“I’m the only non-politician among them and I don’t intend to be a politician all my life. If we get lucky in 2010, and we will get lucky in 2010, I’ll serve until 2016. After that, I will let the next generation take over,” Ebdane said.
He said he already had a “credible” male vice presidential candidate whom he would announce later. He said his party would also field a full Senate slate.
“Just wait for the next chapter. When we announce something, we only do it once and not ‘one step forward, one step backward,’” Ebdane said.
Before going to Manila Hotel for the convention, Ebdane laid a wreath at the monument of revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio at Manila’s Liwasang Bonifacio. The police put the crowd of party members present at around 200.
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091109-235095/Ebdane-widens-2010-race
No comments:
Post a Comment