No sanctions for Lakas men pushing Danding

The ruling Lakas party will not break up even if an outsider is endorsed by party members as standard-bearer.

This was the declaration of Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Lakas president, and the party’s national spokesman Heherson Alvarez after 53 Lakas congressmen signed a petition urging San Miguel Corp. chairman and former ambassador Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. to run for president in 2004.

Both Guingona and Alvarez also said they saw no need to sanction those who endorsed Cojuangco’s supposed presidential bid, but added their partymates may be excluded from party processes.

"That’s just political posturing," Guingona told The STAR, referring to Sen. Robert Barbers’s declaration last week that he, his two sons and 50 Lakas congressmen would resign from the party if they are sanctioned for urging Cojuangco to run for president next year.

Alvarez, for his part, dismissed as "merely exploratory" suggestions that Lakas draft Cojuangco for president in 2004.

He also dismissed speculations that the Lakas, founded in 1992, would soon split between those for and against Cojuangco, chairman emeritus of the Nationalist People’s Coalition which is a partner of Lakas in the six-party People Power Coalition (PPC).

"This process of exploration among various political groups ... is almost a natural development because our party system is weak," Alvarez said.

But he also warned Lakas members to "look within the party first" and refrain from endorsing outsiders "lest they eventually exclude themselves from Lakas’ own selection process."

"I can assure you that we are not wanting in our own ‘stars’," Alvarez said. "What will happen to our party ideals if we select a leader from outside the party?"

Stressing that the party will have its own "comprehensive selection process," he said "Lakas is determined to pick a presidential candidate from within the party."

"While we are not discouraging members of the PPC from fielding their own choices for now, we are discouraging Lakas members from participating in the exploratory process. Lakas will have its own selection process," Alvarez said.

But former Ifugao Rep. Gualberto Lumauig, one of the party’s founding members and Cordillera regional co-chairman, argued that Lakas should keep "an open mind" on selecting the strongest possible candidate for president.– With Perseus Echeminada