Zialcita: No winnable Lakas presidential bet yet

MANILA, Philippines – The Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats party admitted yesterday that they have no winnable presidential bet for 2010 yet.

While the number of presidential aspirants in the fragmented opposition is the least of its worries, the lack of a potential winner for the administration is a problem that needs to be seriously addressed by the ruling Lakas-CMD party of President Arroyo, a senior House member has conceded.

“The problem is not with recruitment but with winning. We have (presidential) candidates, but the problem is that they’re not winnable. This is not to say that they’re not qualified and competent, but they are not popular,” Parañaque Rep. Eduardo Zialcita said.

The statement made by Zialcita, Lakas-CMD vice president for recruitment and deputy spokesman as well, was shared by his fellow Lakas congressman, La Union Rep. Victor Ortega, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments.

Both administration lawmakers agreed that Lakas needs to iron out kinks in the party and announce its official presidential candidate before the year ends, or at the latest early 2009, even if it’s still two years before the May 2010 elections.

“We have to have a rallying point,” Ortega told reporters during the weekly Ayes and Nays forum in Quezon City.

He and Zialcita, just like Speaker Prospero Nograles, said the party is always open to adopt candidates from other parties allied with the administration coalition.

“We can always adopt candidates from other parties. That’s not a first time. We did that with GMA, who was Kampi president before,” Zialcita said.

The party is not limiting its choices within the party, but could accommodate guest candidates from other parties.

Zialcita also revealed that Vice President Noli de Castro, a former newscaster of TV giant ABS-CBN, has “repeatedly refused” their “invitation” to join the ruling party, for reasons they still do not know.

“As early as the time of (former Speaker) JDV, he has been saying, let’s work first,” Zialcita disclosed, adding that Lakas’ doors are always open to him.

He, however, admitted they cannot force De Castro to join them, noting that the latter won the Senate race in May 2001 without any party.

But as far as Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon (Liberal Party) is concerned, this will be an “advantage” on the part of the former broadcast journalist, who will therefore have the “freedom to choose” which party to join.

“Unlike the others, the Vice President is not yet tied to any party,” he said. LP has openly announced its presidential candidate, Sen. Mar Roxas, while Nacionalista Party will have Senate President Manny Villar as its standard bearer.

Nevertheless, Zialcita said it is not yet too late in the day to thresh out problems within the party.

Citing the case of Barack Obama, he said they have candidates who he thinks can “electrify” awareness in the public and probably win the 2010 polls.

He mentioned Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis-Ray Villafuerte and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, who has openly declared his presidential ambition.

Zialcita said they can recruit their candidates from allied parties like Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or Kampi (with which it has an ongoing merger), NP, LP, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino.

Meanwhile, Sen. Joker Arroyo expressed hopes that his two friends and co-members of the Wednesday Club – De Castro and Villar – would not run against each other in the presidential elections in 2010.

“I hope they will just talk but I really can’t tell because they are the candidates,” Arroyo said over station dwIZ.

“But it is better if they will not fight each other so that our group will remain intact. I don’t think it will affect the friendship but that is what Senator Pangilinan and I feel, that they should talk,” Arroyo said, referring to another club member, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan.

Nograles, who sits as Lakas president, earlier hinted that they are not limiting their choices to Lakas stalwarts, but are open to the idea of picking a standard bearer who will come from the ranks of parties within the administration coalition.

“In politics, anything can happen, and it is pregnant with possibilities. Hindi natin alam, (we may be) enemies today (but) friends tomorrow,” he told reporters.

The House leader also said it was a fallacy to consider critics of President Arroyo as automatically opposition.

“Are (Senators Francis) Chiz (Escudero), Loren (Legarda), Manny (Villar) or Mar (Roxas) opposition? I want to correct the misconception that if you are criticizing the President or her government, you are automatically opposition,” Nograles said.

The Speaker clarified that such is not the case in the House of Representatives, where Escudero and Legarda’s NPC, Villar’s NP and Roxas’ LP all belong to the administration coalition.

“We have an open-door policy. We believe that this country needs to unite and not divide our people – the politicians especially. When politicians reason and bargain with one another and not speak in forked tongues, we can all get together as one,” the Speaker added.

Nograles issued a statement welcoming Villar into the coalition. He said “political parties such as the NP, which are supportive of the administration’s programs and policies, are welcome to become part of the administration alliance in 2010 and beyond.”

“We envision one solid and strong republic with one strong administration party starting with the two largest, Lakas and Kampi, but never to the exclusion of our other allies who are supportive of the administration’s programs and policies,” Nograles said.

The Speaker remains optimistic that the ongoing effort to merge Lakas and Kampi will materialize in time in preparation for the 2010 presidential polls, including possible additional alliances with other political parties.

“I’m still very positive that we can have this merger although I am not discounting the possibility that some areas in the local level will remain a free zone. On the overall, I’ll be very happy if we can achieve a 95 percent success rate at uniting the local leaders, including rival groups, who are either with Lakas or Kampi,” Nograles said.

“Of course we will also consider other administration allies as part of a super-alliance that we intend to have in 2010,” he added.

 ‘No to Noli vs Villar’

Meanwhile, Sen. Joker Arroyo expressed hopes that his two friends and co-members of the Wednesday Club – De Castro and Villar – would not run against each other in the presidential elections in 2010.

“I hope they will just talk but I really can’t tell because they are the candidates,” Arroyo said over station dwIZ.

“But it is better if they will not fight each other so that our group will remain intact. I don’t think it will affect the friendship but that is what Senator Pangilinan and I feel, that they should talk,” Arroyo said, referring to another club member, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan.

A recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations showed that if presidential elections were held today, it would be a tight race between De Castro and Villar.

The June survey commissioned by a political party said De Castro had 26 percent preference and Villar, 22 percent.

On the other hand, Legarda had 12 percent; Escudero got 11 percent, with Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former President Joseph Estrada both tied with nine percent each. Roxas had seven percent followed by Sen. Richard Gordon with 0.8 percent.

The SWS survey was the latest presidential survey conducted by the polling firm for the 2010 elections. – With Aurea Calica, Perseus Echeminada