GMA: ENSURE GIBO-EDU WIN / BF TO RUN AS INDEPENDENT /
CHIZ TOO AS VP
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - Presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro and his running mate Edu
Manzano pose at the Lakas-Kampi-CMD national convention yesterday.
WILLY PEREZ]
MANILA, NOVEMBER 21, 2009 (STAR) By Paolo Romero and Jaime Laude - Acknowledging the “big and arduous task” ahead for the ruling party, President Arroyo directed yesterday her party mates to work hard to ensure the victory of Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro and running mate Edu Manzano in the May 2010 elections.
"Hindi po ako natatakot na tanggapin ang hamon na ito ‘pagkat di ko hamon ito, hamon po nating lahat," Teodoro his partymates and stalwarts, led by President Arroyo during Lakas-Kampi convention at PICC, Pasay City.
Mrs. Arroyo gave the order just before she formally relinquished the chairmanship of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD to Teodoro during the party’s jampacked national convention at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
She said with the party’s selection of “capable, competent, energetic leaders to lead us into the next generation, our national initiative to fight poverty and reach the First World within this generation can succeed.”
“But, first things first. Let us get them elected, elected with as big a
mandate as you our leaders in the countryside and urban centers can win from our
people, so that they can go beyond building on the gains of the programs of this
administration and lead a new reform agenda on pro-people reforms, ever guided
by the institutional ideology of our party, the ideology of Christian democracy
enriched by your interfaith dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters,” Mrs.
Arroyo said.
“This is a big and arduous task. But our party has been challenged many times before and has won,” she said.
“It is now time to consolidate our ranks and fortify our party for the electoral battle ahead,” she said.
Teodoro continues to rate poorly in surveys but administration officials said the ratings would go up once he goes out and presses flesh. Mrs. Arroyo described Teodoro as “young and brilliant.”
“This is a far-sighted decision and it keeps the tradition of free, democratic, and transparent selection of candidates that our party holds sacred,” the President said.
She said she was heartened by the presence of so many familiar faces and recognizable names that stood by Lakas-Kampi-CMD despite some defections.
“There’s no one here dragged or bused from just anywhere. But all are leaders, genuine leaders who are all here, as many as can fit in this room,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
“So many leaders here from all over the country with a genuine mandate from their own people demonstrates that indeed our party is a party that can win,” she said.
The President stressed that Lakas-Kampi-CMD has been the largest political party in the country for 15 of the last 17 years and that 72 percent of the country’s elected leaders are part of it.
“Think of it: almost three out of every four elected leader is a party member. This overwhelming majority confirms that our party is the true party of the people,” she said.
She also said the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi has been upheld by the Commission on Elections despite the “legal challenges thrown our way by those whose personal interests were prejudiced by the merger.”
“May each and every party leader and each and every party grassroots member work hard and work together for the victory of our party, our party’s standard-bearers, and all our party’s candidates in 2010,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
Rule of law
“Our engagement in politics is to serve the people in the context of a peaceful Filipino society built on the rule of law that enables every citizen to pursue his dreams and renders to each citizen what is his due,” Teodoro said in his speech.
“We shall protect the life of each and every citizen. This respect for life shall be from the moment of conception to the moment of death. The protection of life is guaranteed by our Constitution, and on this principle, there is no compromise,” Teodoro said.
“The human rights of each Filipino citizen shall be guaranteed and promoted at home and protected abroad,” he said.
He also said family would take center stage under his administration.
“The right of parents to bring up their children cannot be violated since the children are the coming generations and on their will rests the structuring of the future of our country and of civilization,” Teodoro pointed out.
Job, education
He also promised to tackle unemployment squarely and complement the effort through enhanced public education and health.
“Every Filipino has a right to be fully employed, because it is in work that a person finds his fulfillment as a human being and gains the means to secure his dignity,” he said.
“And to assure our citizens the exercise of human rights, together, as a nation, we shall address the four faces of poverty: poverty of the mind, poverty of the pocket, poverty of the environment, and poverty of relationships,” he said.
“Education and health are fundamental rights of citizens, thus constitute a duty of the state. Like the IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) for the LGUs, poor families shall have a direct share of the annual national income to ensure that their children have complete basic education,” he said.
“Access to tertiary education shall be universal and the state shall institute innovative financial arrangements to enable each home to have a college diploma, and in every family, a college graduate,” he pointed out.
“Indigent families shall be automatically and universally covered by state health insurance and shall pay no excess fees for their healthcare and hospitalization,” he said.
Defections belittled
He also belittled recent high-profile party defections
“It’s natural in politics. That’s the way it is. Some leave and some take their oath,” Teodoro said in Filipino, referring to Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, her husband former senator Ralph Recto and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte who moved to the Liberal Party.
Teodoro said he still has the backing of 17 regional Lakas-Kampi-CMD leaders who all attended the party’s national convention.
He said he welcomes offers of help, but stressed they should be in accordance with party principles and guidelines, including those coming from his uncle businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.
Malacańang, meanwhile, said President Arroyo doesn’t mind the defections very much, and that she doesn’t see them as acts of betrayal.
“When you get old in politics, you become very understanding, you have to give some leeway to the wishes of other people,” Ermita said in Filipino.
“But when you are still young, your first reaction is the opposite. If you don’t agree with what has been done, your reaction is to pick a fight immediately. When you get to be more matured, you become more understanding,” he added.
Ermita also said that defections are expected in these situations because not all of the aspirants can be accommodated.
In the case of Batangas, Ermita said that Santos’ transfer to the LP has made it easier for Lakas-Kampi-CMD to move.
“Now the battle lines are very defined. That’s what I mean,” Ermita said.
‘Game na’
Manzano said he’s got what it takes to be vice president and that he’s ready to face his opposition rivals who are faring better in surveys.
“In questioning my qualifications for the vice presidency simply because of one of my professions, my detractors virtually made a wholesale condemnation of those in the entertainment industry as being unfit and incapable of providing competent leadership to our people,” Manzano said in his acceptance speech.
He said his being asked to be Teodoro’s running mate was “a daunting challenge that I find most difficult to reject.”
“What they (detractors) do not realize is that in effect, they also question the intellectual capacity of everyday Filipinos to decide who their leaders should be,” Manzano said.
Manzano proudly claimed that he probably had more experience at 54 than any of his opponents from the other political parties.
He served in the United States Air Force during his younger years and was able to take up a course in civil engineering as part of his military service.
When he returned to Manila as a young adult, Manzano studied economics at the De La Salle University and on the side, became a judo black belter and champion.
He became vice mayor of Makati City in 1998. He ran for mayor in 2001 but lost to Jejomar Binay.
Manzano said he sees nothing wrong with a political party bringing in some star power to boost its chances in the polls.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I think even John McCain did it and many people jumped on the Obama bandwagon,” he said.
“Celebrity appeal is always something that’s a given. Any candidate for that matter always looks for someone who can boost his chances and I can only be so glad to help Secretary Gibo,” he said.
“Sarah Palin’s experience was limited to Alaska. In my case, I’ve been president of the Vice Mayors’ League for a long time. I have been around the Philippines. I had a chance to network with my fellow vice mayors who are now mayors and governors so I think I bring a little bit more to the table than just celebrity appeal,” Manzano said on being compared to former Alaska governor and US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Palin provided star power to the Republican Party but she had to face ridicule during the campaign for her limited knowledge in foreign affairs.
Doomed
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the administration is destined to lose in the elections because of the many controversies that hounded it in the past eight years.
“I don’t think that they are running at all. And the biggest question mark is (Vice President) Noli (de Castro). Why is Noli so quiet? Has he entered into a modus vivendi with (President) Gloria (Arroyo)? So that when Gloria runs for congresswoman in Pampanga she can make an announcement that she resigns and lets Noli become president in the meantime… That is a malicious scenario,” Pimentel said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
Pimentel also said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri’s father, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Zubiri, might also bolt the administration party to join the Liberal Party.
“One thing is certain, the administration has no hope of attracting more followers,” he said.
“If (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) miserably failed to deliver the votes in the 2007 Senate elections despite their machinery, how will they be able to deliver the votes now in an even more challenging presidential race? If they failed then despite being more or less a party intact, how will they deliver now when they are facing massive defections?” Pangilinan asked.
“I don’t know. He’s not here but he has not left the party. I cannot comment on the matter,” Zubiri said on his father’s rumored defection to the LP. The younger Zubiri himself said he would remain with Lakas. –With Marvin Sy, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Dino Balabo
BF bolts Lakas to join derby By Mike Frialde (The Philippine Star) Updated November 21, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando said yesterday that he has “informally” resigned from the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party to pursue his 2010 presidential bid as an independent.
He belied reports that he is running for senator under the banner of the ruling party in the May 2010 elections.
“I have no knowledge whatsoever of my inclusion in the senatorial slate of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD in the 2010 national and local elections,” he said.
“I have not been given prior notice by the party nor have I expressed interest in joining their list of senatorial candidates. I am running for president; it is not my aspiration to become a senator,” he added.
Fernando reiterated that he would run for president of the country.
“It’s not right for them to say that I will run for senator under their party; that is a lie. They are confusing the public. I am running for president of the Philippines, and not for nay other position,” Fernando said in Filipino.
The MMDA chief said he no longer believes in the party.
“I will not continue to be a member of the party, which is dissolving. I do not consider myself a member of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party anymore,” he said.
Fernando, who was a member of Lakas since 1992, said the mass defections of party mates showed that the ruling coalition was already “dissolved.”
He said he will resign as MMDA chairman when he files his certificate of candidacy (COC).
However, he could not immediately say when he would do so.
Chiz as independent vice presidential bet? By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated November 21, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Senators Loren Legarda and Francis “Chiz” Escudero, former colleagues in the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), will be slugging it out in the vice presidential race.
Escudero used to be the presumptive standard-bearer of the party until he abandoned it, reportedly after failing to be assured of funding.
Escudero will be seeking higher office in the May 2010 elections, but only as a vice-presidential candidate, and will run as an independent without any political party.
A reliable source who requested anonymity revealed that the opposition senator will make good his promise not to run under any political party, as he turned down all proposals from powerful parties for him to join them in next year’s elections.
“He will run as an independent vice-presidential candidate. As of the moment, that is settled and that is the game plan,” he said, adding that Escudero will be making his announcement soon.
“Chiz will be true to his word that those aspiring for the highest positions (president and vice president) in the land should be free from political debts to any party,” the insider explained further.
Both the parties of frontrunner Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party and Sen. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party have made offers to Escudero, but he turned them down.
LP wanted to have Escudero as campaign manager.
“There were offers from the Nacionalistas and Liberals. The LP officials even went to his (Escudero) house in Quezon City to (ask him to) be Noynoy’s campaign manager,” the source said.
The insider added that Escudero has yet to choose the presidential candidate that he will be endorsing.
Escudero abandoned the NPC of business tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., his party for 11 years since 1998, when he first ran as congressman of the first district of Sorsogon, where he served until 2007.
Escudero surprised even his closest party mates when he bolted the NPC.
Legarda later hinted a possible team-up with Escudero was close to impossible following his abrupt decision to leave the party and his failure to consult them on his move.
Escudero, who was expected to announce his run for the presidency when he turned 40 last Oct. 10, belied reports that he left the NPC after Cojuangco – chairman emeritus and financier – refused to bankroll his campaign, and instead promised to contribute only P200 million.
As per news reports, Escudero was said to have been asking for P5 billion, but the senator denied this.
He told a local TV network that he never relied on Cojuangco for his financial needs, adding the businessman did not contribute that much to his past political campaigns.
Escudero said Cojuangco did not even offer any support when he first ran in 1998.
Cojuangco and Escudero’s father, Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero III, were both cronies of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Cojuangco served as ambassador while Escudero III was agriculture minister.
The younger Escudero can always return to the Senate if he loses in 2010, as his term ends in 2013 yet.
Meanwhile, the militant women’s group Gabriela yesterday threw its support for the vice-presidential candidacy of Legarda in the May 2010 elections for consistently championing women’s rights.
“She (Loren) has been a consistent ally on key issues,” said Rep. Liza Maza, who disclosed that Legarda had actively promoted women’s rights through her support for the enactment of various laws related to women.
Among the landmark measures she helped craft are the Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
In a statement, Maza cited Legarda’s “consistent advocacy of environmental protection as one important reason” for her group’s decision to support the lady senator in the May 2010 national elections.
Maza will be running for senator in the May 2010 elections. She welcomed Legarda’s staunch support for “a just and lasting peace through the resumption of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front.”
She likewise cited Legarda for supporting Gabriela’s stand to review the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement.
“We hope that she will continue to pursue these advocacies as she seeks higher office in the May 2010 elections,” Maza said.
Legarda, of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, announced her team-up with Sen. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party Wednesday.