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By Francis Earl A. Cueto Reporter
The camp of former President
Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Wednesday floated the possibility of an
Erap-Noli tandem, saying this team is unbeatable in the presidential
elections in 2010.
At the weekly Fernandina Forum in
Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City, Margaux Salcedo, an
Estrada spokesman, said a team-up by the 70-year-old opposition
leader with Vice-President Noli de Castro is “possible.”
She admitted, though, that such
tandem is not yet being pitched as changes in the opposition can
still be expected.
“We cannot say what will really
happen,” Salcedo said, adding that Estrada has not made a final
decision on running in 2010.
She said everybody is open to
ride in Estrada’s JEEP, referring to Estrada’s political battle
cry of justice, education, economy and peace.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson earlier said
the roster for the “presidentiables” from the opposition camp is
getting overcrowded, and likened it to an overloaded “Jeep ni Erap”
(Erap’s jeep).
The jeep or jeepney, the
Filipinos’ favorite public utility vehicle, has become synonymous
with Estrada after he used it as his campaign icon when he ran for
President in 1998.
Among the names being floated as
possible standard-bearer for the opposition are those of Lacson;
Senate President Manuel Villar Jr.; Senators Mar Roxas 2nd, Loren
Legarda and Francis Escudero; and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay.
Lacson was referring to the
invitation extended by Estrada to de Castro to join the opposition.
Estrada said the opposition will accept the Vice-President should he
decide to bolt the administration.
Lacson said he has nothing
against de Castro whom he considers a “friend.”
But the senator feared that in
the end, hard-line oppositionists may be the ones who will be eased
out by Estrada in favor of de Castro and other administration
stalwarts.
While thanking Estrada, de Castro
said his options remain open where the 2010 presidential elections
are concerned, and that he would like to concentrate on his job as
housing czar first before thinking of politics.
Estrada has been making rounds in
Metro Manila with his medical and food missions in what people
interpret as preparing for a possible return to Malacañang in 2010.
Estrada has denied any intent to run in 2010.
Salcedo said de Castro would have
to make a decision and “show his intention” sooner or he would
wind up without any party at all.
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