Magysaysay may join 2004 presidential race

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. said yesterday he may run for president in next year’s election and would seek the nomination of the ruling Lakas party.

That makes Magsaysay the third pro-administration senator eyeing the presidency along with Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier and Majority Leader Loren Legarda.

Magsaysay said he decided to join the presidential race after being encouraged by supporters. "They know that I don’t have any other ambition except as senator," he told The STAR.

"You know, I’m an engineer like former President (Fidel) Ramos, who was a civil engineer. And my father, President Magsaysay, was a mechanical engineer. So it’s good to have choices — not only lawyer, military, but also an engineer who also understands business."

Magsaysay’s father, the deceased Ramon Sr., had a reputation for being simple, humble, honest and hardworking. The elder Magsaysay handily won the 1953 election but died in a plane crash in 1957.

The younger Magsaysay said his decision to run for president would depend on several factors and said he would "just prepare for it, if and when it comes."

He said Lakas will announce its candidate in December.

Meanwhile, Flavier maintained that he is still considering running for president despite reports that he was pulling out of the race because of lackluster party support and uncertainty about his health.

Flavier reiterated his intention to seek the presidency, provided he is nominated by the party, does favorably in opinion surveys, able to raise a campaign chest and is given a clean bill of health by his doctors.

"Let me make it clear: I am still in this. It is true that I am continuing to monitor my health as that is simply a reasonable thing to do. It is also true that I am monitoring developments within the Lakas party," he said in a statement.

"But let me stress that I have never said that I am pulling out of anything. I am taking very deliberate steps to come to a responsible decision on the future."

Flavier landed in third place in the latest nationwide survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS), a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

Thirteen percent of about 1,200 registered voters polled during the first half of April said they would vote for the former barrio doctor.

Legarda, on the other hand, has yet to announce her intent to pursue her expressed interest but had earlier topped the SWS survey.

Her popularity showed that she may be Lakas’ strongest possible bet in the presidential race, according to a source in the party.

"She can now aim for a higher position in 2004," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "She has the intelligence and the popularity."

President Arroyo’s former education secretary Raul Roco remained the person to beat in the survey, drawing support from 31 percent of the respondents.

Some of Mrs. Arroyo’s allies have endorsed Roco because he consistently topped opinion surveys.

Action star Fernando Poe Jr. — who is being pushed to run by the political opposition headed by deposed President Joseph Estrada – came in second with 26 percent. Poe had repeatedly said he would not run.

Running in fourth place is Estrada’s ally Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who got support from 12 percent.

Businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., who is being endorsed by some quarters in the administration Lakas, received support from only six percent. The rest of the respondents said they were either undecided or had no candidate in mind. – Eva Visperas, Paolo Romero