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Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Friday that the
opposition seemed destined to field many presidential candidates in
the 2010 elections.
“It looks like some are really decided on
running,” he said.
He noted that Senators Loren Legarda and Francis
Escudero are now positioning themselves at the Nationalist
People’s Coalition side. Sen. Manuel Roxas 2nd is positioning at
the Liberal Party, and Senate President Manuel Villar at the
Nacionalista Party.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson is considering another stab
at the presidency but he said he would make a formal announcement
only if he is within the top five in surveys near the campaign
period.
Pimentel had told Lacson to join a political
party if he wants to run for president. He asked Lacson to talk with
Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati, president of PDP-Laban and of the
United Opposition, about joining the said party.
Lacson was interested in joining the party but
he still has to get an appointment with Binay, who is always busy.
Binay is also mentioned as a probable presidential candidate,
although some say he would have bigger chances as candidate for vice
president.
Former President Joseph Estrada had urged the
opposition to field only one presidential candidate to assure its
victory. He said that he would be forced to run should the
opposition remain divided.
Pimentel echoed Estrada’s call for a united
opposition in 2010.
“The fight would be more difficult if the
opposition would be divided. The administration could always claim
that the opposition lost because it was divided, even if the
administration had cheated its way to victory,” he said.
Many opposition leaders still claim that had
Lacson not run in 2010, the victory of the late Fernando Poe Jr.
over President Gloria Arroyo should have been assured, and that no
amount of cheating could counteract his “overwhelming” votes.
The frontrunner in the administration side is
Vice President Noli de Castro, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, secretary
general of Lakas-Kampi, said de Castro would enhance his chances if
he is more tactful in dealing with political parties. De Castro is
still partyless and has been saying that he does not need one.
-- Efren L. Danao
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