TJ Burgonio Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—From Ate Vi to Edu.With Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos out of the picture and Sen. Loren Legarda yet to give her nod, the ruling coalition is eyeing game show host and TV actor Edu Manzano for its vice president.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita identified Manzano, who is Santos’ ex-husband and the former chair of the Optical Media Board, as the personality being bruited about as the “less predictable but no less formidable” potential candidate for vice president of the Lakas-Kampi CMD.
Ermita, the party’s interim president, said the idea was recently mentioned by party secretary general Gabriel Claudio. Claudio did not reply to questions sent by text.
Manzano headed the OMB until he quit last August, ostensibly to pursue personal advocacies.
With less than a month left for the filing of candidacy certificates, the ruling coalition must find a “viable” running mate for its expected presidential standard-bearer, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.
Santos, a longtime party member, has declared she preferred to seek reelection in Batangas.
Talks to convince Legarda, a member of the opposition Nationalist People’s Coalition and already a declared vice presidential candidate, to agree to become Teodoro’s running mate are supposedly still going on.
If the talks with Legarda fail, the party has indicated it could always field someone from its own ranks.
Aside from Manzano, the alternatives include party member Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Tourism Secretary Ace Durano of the NPC, said Ermita.
“Senator Revilla won convincingly when he ran for the Senate...He’s got a good thing going for him because he’s good-looking,” he said.
Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez, a party spokesperson, said Revilla was indeed being considered.
Reginald Velasco, the party deputy secretary general, said that aside from Revilla, other vice presidential alternatives include actor-senator Lito Lapid, Health Secretary Francisco Duque and Augusto Syjuco, the head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
But the party is thought to prefer a popular entertainer or personality to take the VP slot to shore up the ratings of Teodoro, who has fared poorly in presidential preference surveys.
But Ermita clarified that Manzano, Revilla and Durano were not “spare tires” to be tapped only if the party failed to snag Legarda.
“We’re not talking of the last resort. We’re just saying they’re among the choices,” he said. With Leila B. Salaverria
Source: http://politics.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&article=20091105-234283
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