Danding’s House allies hopeful he’ll be Lakas bet in May

Congressional allies of businessman Eduardo Cojuangco are optimistic that the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party will choose the businessman as its standard-bearer in the May 2004 presidential elections.

Rep. Jacinto Paras (Lakas-CMD, Negros Oriental) said President Arroyo appears to be sticking to her announced decision not seek her own full term next year.

"I doubt very much that the President will change her mind," Paras said. "Up to now, she has not given any indication that she will run."

He said the group of 65 Lakas congressmen who had earlier pushed Cojuangco to run for president "is still very much intact."

But Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said Lakas-CMD members would likely ask the President to reconsider her decision and seek a full term during a party caucus on Oct. 7.

Lakas-CMD’s 400-man national directorate will convene on Oct. 7 and will likely decide on the party’s presidential candidate and 12-member senatorial ticket in the 2004 elections.

But the Speaker conceded that Cojuangco is also "another popular choice" among Lakas members.

Aside from the 65-strong Lakas bloc, some 75 congressmen from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and the Liberal Party, are also pushing Cojuangco to run.

Paras and Cojuangco’s nephew, Tarlac Rep. Gilberto Teodoro of the NPC, said Cojuangco is popular among political leaders because he is a "unifying figure,"

Paras said there is also a good chance that Cojuangco will be a "unity candidate" of both administration and opposition parties and supported calls for the President and Cojuangco to forge a "consensus" on next year’s polls.

LDP chairman Sen. Edgardo Angara, who is backing Cojuangco, was also given "blanket authority" by LDP members to choose the party’s standard-bearer next year.

Paras said Cojuangco is likely to be adopted along with Lakas Sen. Loren Legarda as running mate.

Cojuangco appeared in a political rally in Concepcion, Tarlac over the weekend with Legarda and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos.

Paras said only Cojuangco and Legarda "understand the complexities of the country’s economic problems and (can) provide solutions to them."

De Venecia said the Oct. 7 meeting will also decide on the call of Lakas-CMD director Jose Ma. Rufino for disciplinary action against Vice President Teofisto Guingona.

Guingona earlier resigned as foreign affairs secretary last year on disagreements over foreign policy with Malacañang.

Guingona has evaded the issue and declined to issue any statement. A member of his staff pointed out that the Vice President never said he would join any anti-US rallies during the state visit of US President George W. Bush.

The planned rally was organized by militant groups that earlier opposed the US war against Iraq. Among the main supporters was Guingona.