The ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Christian, Muslim, Democrats) belittled the alleged endorsement of some of the “original” members of the Lakas Party to the presidential bid of former Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., who was reported to be running under the Philippine Labor and Peasant Party (PLPP), formerly Lapiang Manggagawa Party in the May 2010 elections.
Lakas-Kampi-CMD vice president for membership Prospero Pichay Jr., in a radio interview, said the so-called original Lakas members claiming support for Ebdane were neither incumbent officials nor active members of the party.
“Siguro ito ang original Lakas, Lakas-Tao pa noong itinatag ang Lakas (They may be original Lakas members). But they are no longer incumbents. Matagal nang di member ng Lakas (They are no longer members of the present Lakas),” he said.
On Nov. 19, the merged Lakas-Kampi-CMD formally announced its standard bearers in next year’s polls — former Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro for president and former Optical Media Board (OMB) chair Eduardo “Edu” Manzano for vice president.
On Sunday, former Executive Secretary Ruben Torres said that at least 50 original members of the Lakas Party had expressed support behind Ebdane’s presidential bid.
Torres, who is now Ebdane’s campaign manager, said these Lakas supporters included incumbent and former Cabinet secretaries, congressmen, governors, mayors and town officials.
“While the administration was doing their show, we sat down with the original Lakas members. No shows, just a plain explanation of the platform and people were convinced and now are supporting Secretary Ebdane,” he said.
He, however, did not disclose the identities of the supposed Ebdane backers.
House Speaker Prospero Nograles, a member of Lakas-Kampi-CMD national advisory board, said he did not think the endorsement of the so-called original Lakas members carried much weight.
“I wonder if they have the numbers,” he said in a text message.
Nograles said that while he is a personal friend of the former DPWH chief, he “can’t do anything” about Ebdane’s decision to run for president.
Ebdane is set to name his runningmate and file his certificate of candidacy (COC) on Nov. 29.
On the other hand, Pichay maintained that the Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer will catch up in the surveys once Teodoro starts going around the country and meets with governors, congressmen and mayors.
“Ngayon kailangan niya umikot. Confident ako na kapag narinig siya ng taumbayan aangat ang approval rating, isa siya sa magaling na kandidato ngayon (Teodoro needs to go around. I am confident that when people hear what he has to say, his rating will go up. He is one of the more qualified candidates we have),” he said. (PNA)
RMA/LGI
