Bayani, Sonny or Dick for prez?

Bayani, Sonny or Dick for prez? Lakas now choosing 2010 bets

Who says it’s too early to prepare for the 2010 presidential elections? Not the leaders of the ruling Lakas party, who are now drawing up a long list of members who can be groomed for the top positions of the land.

Newsbreak learned that Lakas intends to float the names of at least three potential presidential, three vice presidential, and 16 senatorial bets to test how the public will receive them.

So far, the ones on the list are:

For President - Bayani Fernando, chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and former mayor of Marikina City; Feliciano Belmonte, mayor of Quezon City and former Speaker of the House of Representatives; Richard Gordon, senator and former chair of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

For Vice President – Ramon “Bong" Revilla Jr., senator and former governor of Cavite; Tomas Osmeña, mayor of Cebu City and former chair of the League of Cities of the Philippines; Vilma Santos, governor of Batangas and former mayor of Lipa City.

For Senator -
- (current and former senators) Lito Lapid, Joey Lina, Ralph Recto;

- (Cabinet members) Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Agrarian Reform Sec. Nasser Pangandaman, Tourism Sec. Ace Durano, Education Sec. Jesli Lapus, Technical Education Skills Development Authority chair Augusto Syjuco;

- (congressmen) Quezon City’s Arthur Defensor and Mandaluyong’s Neptali Gonzales II;

- (local officials) Surigao del Norte Gov. Ace Barbers and Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, if the latter will turn her back on Kampi;

- (losers in the 2007 senatorial elections) former presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor and former Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay;

- (others) Optical Media Board chair Edu Manzano, congressional spouses head Gina de Venecia, and actress Dawn Zulueta, whose husband Anton Lagdameo is a Lakas congressman.

A Lakas official said these people have yet to be informed that they are being considered by the party. But they are perceived to have good chances of catching the voters’ fancy.

Learning from the mistakes of compromising a lot with smaller parties that coalesced with them in past elections, Lakas this time will put its foot down when it comes to choosing the standard-bearers and most of the candidates. They have to come from Lakas.

“We’re the majority [party], we won’t allow other parties to name the candidates for us," the Lakas official said.
GMA NEWS TV