It's Edu for Gibo

MANILA, Philippines - Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. finally has a running mate.

Former Optical Media Board chairman Edu Manzano will be proclaimed as Lakas-Kampi-CMD candidate for vice president during the administration party’s national convention next week.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Lakas-Kampi-CMD vice chairman, officially announced the Teodoro-Manzano tandem in a press conference at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati yesterday.

Puno said he had asked Teodoro’s permission to open talks with Manzano, whom he had known for a long time and helped in his political and personal careers, Puno said.

Manzano said he agreed to become Teodoro’s running mate because he believes in Teodoro’s capability to lead the country as the next president.

“I would like to hitch my wagon with that of the good secretary and be part of his team that would push the Filipinos’ future,” he said.

Manzano said Puno played a “big role” in convincing him to accept Teodoro’s offer.

“Many of you may not be of the knowledge that Secretary Puno has been like a mentor to me,” he said.

“He told me to talk to Gibo (Teodoro’s nickname). I believe he possesses the qualities needed to move this country forward. I want to be part of his team.”

He suggested Manzano to Teodoro, based on the TV host’s capability as a public servant, Puno said. 

Teodoro and Manzano were schoolmates at the De La Salle University in Manila.

Teodoro, incoming Lakas-Kampi-CMD chairman, said he and Manzano would push the party’s platform of governance to bring the country back on its feet.

“I need a partner who will convince people that we need to rise again,” he said in Filipino.

“We should surpass our (Asian) neighbors, we should lead again,” he added.

Teodoro said Manzano is very close to the people and he believes in his principles of good governance.

“(He is) honorable, forward-looking with vision,” he said. “He earns his keep the honorable way.”

Manzano thanked both Teodoro and Puno for their trust and confidence in him.

‘NPC members to back Teodoro’

More members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition are expected to support Teodoro’s bid for the presidency.

Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, who belongs to NPC, said President Arroyo plans to meet with other NPC lawmakers after having lunch with him and 10 other members of the House of Representatives.

“She asked for our support for Secretary Teodoro,” he said. “How can you say no to her?”

Others who met with Mrs. Arroyo were Faustino Dy III also of Isabela, Conrado Estrella III of Pangasinan, Vincent Garcia of Davao City, Genero Alvarez and Jeffrey Ferrer of Negros Occidental, Zenaida Angping of Manila, George Arnaiz of Negros Oriental, Antonio Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur, and Jeci Lapus of Tarlac.

Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, a Lakas-Kampi member, of Isabela, was also present.

Also in the group were Governors Jesus Jurdin Romualdo of Camiguin, Sally Zaldivar Perez of Antique and Josephine Sato of Mindoro Occidental.

“We told the President that we will support Gibo,” Romualdo said when reached for comment.

A lawmaker who attended the Palace meeting said they decided to support Teodoro since the NPC no longer has a presidential candidate.

“With the departure of Chiz (Sen. Francis Escudero) from our party, we are now free to support the presidential aspirant of our choice,” the lawmaker, who did not want to be named, said.

Aggabao said the commitment they gave Mrs. Arroyo is limited to Teodoro, who is Lakas-Kampi standard-bearer, and does not include his running mate.

“We have a vice presidential candidate in Sen. Loren Legarda, and we remain committed to her,” he said.

Other lawmakers who were Escudero’s supporters before he abandoned NPC have shifted their support to Sen. Benigno Aquino III, who is the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer.

One of them is Rep. Mujiv Hataman of the party-list group Anak Mindanao, who told reporters that he has taken his oath as a member of Aquino’s party.

Manzano decision surprises LP

Manzano’s decision to be Teodoro’s running mate caught the Liberal Party by surprise because he was supposed to be in its senatorial slate.

LP campaign manager Florencio Abad said they were surprised because Manzano had been talking to them.

“When it comes to the Senate race, his numbers are good (in surveys),” he said.

“In the vice presidential contest, he is untested. I think he’s taking a big risk, he’s practically coming from nowhere.” 

Abad said Manzano was set to be at the oath taking ceremonies in Cubao, Quezon City as new LP member.

“He just told us he would not be able to come. Maybe he was not able to say no to Malacañang,” he said.

 “It will not be easy for him because if the 2007 elections were to be used as gauge, candidates of the administration suffer from the unpopularity of the President (Arroyo). Right now, the President’s ratings are even lower.

Erap’s camp also surprised

Former President Joseph Estrada’s camp was also surprised when Manzano joined Teodoro.

Manzano was included in the senatorial slate of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino of the former president.

Margaux Salcedo, Estrada’s spokeswoman, said they thought all along that Manzano shared the opposition’s desire for a real democracy.

“We were taken by surprise as well by the decision of Edu Manzano to run with the administration party,” she said.

“We thought he shared the opposition’s desire for a real democracy, not the kind of regime we have experienced the last nine years.”

Salcedo also denied rumors that Estrada had struck a deal with Aquino to back out from the presidential race and support Aquino’s bid in 2010 in exchange for Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada running under the LP.

“That’s nothing but psy-war,” she said.

“President Erap is a man who is true to his word. In Tagalog, may isang salita. He has declared that he will run. There is no more backing out at this point.”

Salcedo said Jinggoy is set to run under his father’s party, PMP.

On the other hand, Lito Anzures, spokesman for Makati Mayor and United Opposition (UNO) president Jejomar Binay, welcomed the entry of Manzano in the vice presidential race.

“The public can now size up the candidates based on their executive capabilities and track record in serving the people.”

In 1995, Binay defeated Manzano in the mayoralty race in Makati.

Vi: Edu will have a tough time

Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto believes Edu Manzano, her former husband, will have a tough time in next year’s vice-presidential race.

“I respect his decision, he’s qualified as a public servant. Anyway at the end of the day it is the people who will decide,” she told The STAR by phone.

Recto said she and her husband, former National Economic and Development Authority director general Ralph Recto, would decide what party to join if they leave Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

“Let’s wait and see (by) next week, because once we decide, there will no turning back,” she said.

Recto said they will definitely choose a party or a competent presidential candidate that would have a “truthful” administration.

“We will support a leader that has solutions for our national problems and definitely will support my projects here in Batangas” she said. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jose Rodel Clapano, Arnell Ozaeta, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez