Toe the party line, Palace tells Fernando

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential aspirant Bayani Fernando would have to toe the line and respect the decision of the ruling coalition in the selection of the standard-bearer for the 2010 elections.

Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Fernando, being a ranking official of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, should understand the selection process and abide by the party decision on the choice of the presidential candidate of the administration.

“You have to consider that we are in a democratic society and as a member of the newly merged Lakas-Kampi-CMD party, Secretary Fernando has all the right to advocate his position in terms of selecting our presidential candidate,” Bello said.

Bello noted the statements made by Fernando that he would block the selection of Vice President Noli de Castro and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro as possible administration standard-bearers.

Fernando, chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), is aggressively pushing the administration to choose him as the standard-bearer, being a ranking party member and vice president for the National Capital Region of Lakas-CMD.

Fernando lamented the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party was apparently formed to accommodate De Castro and Teodoro who are not party members of either Lakas or Kampi.

“His (Fernando’s) decision has to be subjected to the decision of the party so he is free to do what he thinks is right under his plan, but then in the final analysis it would be the party which will decide,” Bello said.

“Being a member of the party, he knows he has to subordinate himself to the general interest of the party,” he said.

He said Fernando was correct in asserting that an original party member should be selected as standard-bearer but there are other critical factors that should be considered.

“But in the final analysis, the choice of presidential candidate will depend on several factors like qualification, winnability, and the support of party members,” Bello said.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, for his part, said Fernando’s tirades make him unfit to be the party’s presidential candidate.

Zubiri said the MMDA chairman “is not fit to be president because he does not have the heart for the poor.”

He said Fernando should not be acting like a dictator in pushing for the party to select him. – With Aurea Calica