85 lawmakers endorse Teodoro as admin bet

JOHANNA CAMILLE SISANTE, GMANews.TV
09/15/2009 | 09:52 AM

(Updated 12:20 p.m.) Up to 85 congressmen allied with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration on Tuesday showed their support for Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. as the Lakas-Kampi (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino)-CMD standard bearer for the 2010 elections.

Teodoro himself was present at the breakfast meeting in Quezon City of pro-administration lawmakers organized by party stalwart Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros “Mitos" Magsaysay, who initiated the circulation of a manifesto of support for Teodoro.

Magsaysay said around 90 congressmen attended the event.

"We believe in his vision. We believe in his integrity. We know that he has the capacity and the ability to serve the nation," Magsaysay said of Teodoro. "As far as choosing the standard bearer is concerned, we should also be consulted by our party."

Teodoro thanked the congressmen for their show of support. "I will always be grateful to each and every one of you," he said.

"It starts here. Unity starts here," said Teodoro.

Among those present at the event were House Speaker Prospero Nograles, executive vice-chair of Lakas-Kampi-CMD. But Nograles said his attendance does not necessarily mean he was endorsing Teodoro, and told reporters to wait for the party decision on its standard bearer.

"We are just awaiting the final word of the party...kung sino yung napili ng party, my personal choice does not matter," he said.

"I suppose whatever was signed here today will be submitted to the executive committee tomorrow," Nograles added, noting that 33 out of the executive committee's 64 members are congressmen.

But in a separate statement, Nograles said Teodoro is "steps ahead" among the party's options in terms of "experience, capability, dependability, maturity and leadership."

"Faced with a fractured opposition, Gibo is now emerging as a viable candidate. While the opposition is singing discordant tunes as to their presidential candidate, the administration remains very solid and its machinery remains very intact. This is a welcome and a most likely scenario," Nograles said.

Also present was Presidential brother-in-law and Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, who said he is supporting Teodoro's bid. But the congressman, who is the brother of First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, said his stance does not necessarily reflect that of the First Family.

"Sa akin lang po ito (This is my view alone)," he told reporters. "As far as qualifications go, he's (Teodoro) qualified."

Poor survey showing

Teodoro is a former congressman of Tarlac. He is a second cousin of Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, himself a presidential aspirant in the 2010 polls from the Liberal Party. Both of them are nephews of business tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., founder of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).

Teodoro is the husband of Tarlac Rep. Monica "Nikki" Prieto-Teodoro.

Lakas-Kampi picks Teodoro as 2010 standard bearer
GMANews.tv
09/16/2009 | 02:07 PM


Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., 45, was selected on Wednesday to be the standard bearer in 2010 of the ruling Lakas-Kampi (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino)-CMD party, setting the stage for an underdog's uphill climb against more popular and better known opponents.

Teodoro won by a landslide against Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Bayani Fernando, who walked out of the party’s national executive committee meeting after his motion to defer the voting was rejected.

Reportedly a favorite nephew of tycoon Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr., Teodoro will have money and the administration's muscle behind him, including the party's vaunted network of local government membership. But the UP and Harvard law graduate will have to overcome the effects of being associated with the most unpopular Philippine president in recent history.

Teodoro has fared dismally in recent surveys on most preferred presidential bets.

In Pulse Asia’s latest survey, Teodoro ranked 13th among 15 prospective presidential candidates. Only 0.2 percent said they would vote for the defense chief if the elections were held now.

In announcing the decision, presidential political adviser and party secretary-general Gabriel Claudio noted that Teodoro and Fernando were both worthy presidential aspirants.

"In the end, however, one man alone had to be chosen and the standard bearer to lead the party in the election for 2010…The candidate of Lakas-Kampi-CMD for the 2010 presidential elections, as endorsed by the party national executive committee is the honorable Gilberto Teodoro Jr.," Claudio said.

Claudio said Teodoro’s selection is subject to the ratification by the party’s national convention.

Radio dzBB’s Denver Trinidad quoted a party official as saying that the voting results were 44-5 in favor of Teodoro. The official declined to be named.

House Speaker and party executive vice chairman Prospero Nograles said Teodoro “has the support of the biggest political party with about 3,000 elected officials nationwide."

Sought for comment, Fernando’s camp remained mum. “I’m sorry, we have no statement at this time," said Gina Virtusio, Fernando’s close aide.

Party vice president for membership and recruitment Prospero Pichay Jr. said Teodoro was selected by the committee through secret voting.

“Iyon ang napagkasunduan, secret balloting (We agreed that we will conduct secret balloting)," Pichay told reporters.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno is also poised to become the administration party’s vice presidential bet as he is the only one who has expressed desire to run for the post, Claudio said.

The party's announcement of a standard bearer shifts the limelight temporarily away from Senator Noynoy Aquino, who has benefited from a groundswell of support since the funeral of his mother, former president Cory Aquino, last month.

Last week, the results of a new Social Weather Stations survey showed that among Luzon voters, Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III was the top presidential choice in next year's national elections with a 50-percent vote.

Those who had been constant frontrunners in surveys include Senator Manuel Villar Jr., former President Joseph Estrada, and Vice President Noli de Castro.

Earlier in the day, De Castro said he would not run under the Lakas-Kampi-CMD banner in 2010.

"I’m not one of their candidates anymore," De Castro said in a chance interview with reporters at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City.

Asked if he would now join other political parties, De Castro replied: "Wala akong sinasabing ganoon (I’m not saying anything like that)." – Sophia Dedace, Jam Sisante and Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV

This made me laugh

http://twitpic.com/hx8on
:armyLol:

Gibo for President

"Gloria's Interests Before Others?"

"Gloria's Interests Before Others?" :lollol:

And we all know that these endorsers gain their funds from illegal activities hence when Gibo does win they'll be collecting on what they've given as "support."

you never know,maybe he'll be the one who will modernize the country's military

Ha, big wish. Mas inuna pa yun pagpulitika than his work. Ang layo pa ng elections or the proper campaign period. Kung may nagawa ka talaga you wouldn't fear the opposition considering may pinagmamalaki silang machinery. I do hope I'm proven wrong but sagad hanggang buto ang pagiging pulitiko nito. Si Avelino Cruz na lang ibalik nila mas mabuti pa.

Sa tinggin ko naman ay may ibubuga naman si Gibo, ang problema lang naman ay baka bitbitin niya sila PGMA at yung mga itlog niya.

Suggestion ko kay sir Gibo if he really wants to win the election, distance himself from the Black Dwende.

If he wins, he will have a huge political debt to pay.

Gibo's poor ratings driving Lakas members away - official
The lackluster performance of their standard bearer in various surveys had forced about 30 to 40 percent of Lakas-Kampi-CMD members – with more expected to follow – to abandon ship, a party official said on Wednesday.

“It saddens us to see them go but also in retrospect wala tayong magagawa dahil (we can’t do anything about it because it’s) survival. You can’t blame them," said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the party's vice president for Mindanao.

He said the group – a merger of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) parties – is not disappointed with the exodus.

“Thirty to 40 percent of the party has probably already left, [but] as we say in politics, for everyone that leaves, there is always an open door for somebody to come in," Zubiri said.

Gibo's poor ratings

The senator admitted that one of the reasons for the exodus is the dismal performance of their presidential bet, former Defense Secretary Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr., in presidential surveys.

“That is a common effect when you have a problem on the popularity of your presidential candidate. That’s been the case since time immemorial," he said.

In the recent Pulse Asia nationwide survey, only two percent of the 1,800 respondents preferred Teodoro to be the country’s next president. The administration party is hoping Teodoro’s rating would catch up soon.

“There is nowhere else to go but up. He [Teodoro] cannot go lower than 2 percent," Zubiri said.

Internal squabble in the party also contributed to the exodus, the senator added.