MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang has a simple message for those who are jumping ship for the 2016 elections: Good luck.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda yesterday said President Aquino and his team would be able to run a successful campaign even without the support of the so-called political turncoats.
“If you want to jump away from the party, it’s your call. Do you want to remain in the party? Well and good. But we make no judgment. You determine the circumstances which you are confronted with, and good luck on your decision,” Lacierda said.
Noting the reports of defections from the Liberal Party (LP) ranks, Lacierda said “it’s a judgment call for each and every politician.”
Lacierda said elective officials have their own “political policies” and decisions, depending on their circumstances.
Local officials have reportedly started defecting from the LP and other political parties to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the second biggest political party rumored to be supporting the tandem of Sens. Grace Poe and Francis Escudero.
Aquino’s anointed successor is former interior and local government secretary Manuel Roxas II, who has asked Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo to be his running mate since Poe has decided to run against him.
The ruling LP, led by President Aquino, and NPC belong to the administration coalition forged in 2010 along with other political parties – including the Nacionalista Party (NP) and the National Unity Party (NUP) – that backed Poe in her first foray into politics in the 2013 senatorial elections.
Lacierda said turncoatism is “a judgment call for each and every politician.”
“If he’s a local politician, he will view himself in the light of factors and circumstances in his local political sphere. But let me just say this distinct matter...you’re also looking at the potential impact of those high numbers (Aquino’s rating), not only on the presidential standard-bearer or the vice presidential standard-bearer, but as well as on the local politicians running in their districts, in their provinces, in their cities, in their municipalities. You would have to consider that,” he said.
Lacierda pointed out that the President is enjoying a high popularity rating even at the last stage of his term.
“Was there any other president (who had) such a high rating? I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone with that high a rating in the remaining eight months of a president’s administration,” he said.
“Now, one makes a choice based on the factors that he is presented with, so it is up to the politicians to determine what in their view will be best for them and we will not make a judgment out of it,” he added.
Lacierda said politicians must also remember that the LP, as a party, has a leader in the President whose goodwill and not just popularity remain strong.
Lacierda stressed governance was more than a party, but the commitment of the Aquino administration was that no one should be left behind “and let’s make sure that we better the situation of our countrymen.”
“That is our primary commitment to our Filipino people...I am not an expert in politics...since I am not a member of a political party, I don’t know the ins and outs,” Lacierda said.
A battle for warm bodies
Quezon City Rep. Christopher Belmonte Jr., a nephew of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., said the opposite is actually happening with the NPC and LP.
“What defection? I think the opposite is actually happening. Just yesterday, another group of 40 mayors from Mindanao took their oath as LP members,” Belmonte said.
He said it was unfortunate that Poe and Escudero are severing their ties from the administration coalition, which had solidly supported them as part of its senatorial ticket in the 2013 elections.
Poe and Escudero ran as independents in the 2013 elections but were adopted in the administration senatorial slate.
Belmonte said the Mindanao mayors who joined the LP were from the NPC and they took their oath before Roxas and Senate President Franklin Drilon.
On Friday, over 150 local officials and lawmakers from the LP, NP, Lakas-CMD and the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) reportedly took their oath as NPC members, two days after Poe declared her intention to run for president. – With Paolo Romero