With just three days to go before the deadline it gave him lapses, the administration stressed Saturday it will not give up on having Vice President Manuel “Noli” de Castro Jr. as its presidential bet for 2010.
Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez Jr. laughed off speculations that Malacañang is already moving on to groom other prospective candidates for next year’s presidential race.
“Hindi natin pwedeng masabing nag-give up kasi merong takdang oras at panahon na binigay sa vice president natin (We can never say we are giving up because a deadline was given to the Vice President to decide),” he said on government-run dzRB radio.
The ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD had given de Castro until September 15 to join the party so he can be considered in its selection process.
De Castro could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
Golez said that until the deadline lapses, “antayin natin ano ang mangyayari on or before the deadline (let’s see what happens on or before the deadline).”
On Friday, deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said Lakas-Kampi-CMD will announce its standard bearer for the 2010 presidential election on Wednesday.
Olivar said this is one day after the deadline the party set to agree on an official presidential candidate.
He cited a text message from presidential political affairs adviser Gabriel Claudio that the presidential candidate “will definitely be a bona fide member of the party.”
He did not name the candidates but the Palace statement said they are “presumed” to be Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando.
Earlier, the party gave De Castro up to Sept. 15 to decide whether to join the party.
De Castro is a consistent top-rater in surveys of prospective presidential candidates, while Teodoro and Fernando fell below 10th spot in recent Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations surveys.
Meanwhile, Golez brushed off claims that Teodoro met with United States officials to curry support for his presidential bid.
He added that even if Teodoro gets the nod of US officials, such support can be good only as a “morale booster.”
“Ay alam ninyo po political season ngayon, kahit anong pwedeng masabing political talagang sasabihin kahit sino. Alam natin na ang maghuhusga o pipili ng susunod na pangulo ang Pilipino. Di makaboto ang Amerikano sa atin po (It’s political season now. Anything can be said against anyone. Besides, the last say in the elections will come from Filipinos because we know Americans cannot vote),” he said.
Besides, he said the US does not interfere in Philippine internal affairs.
The Department of Foreign Affairs had said Teodoro met with Philippine diplomatic and US military officials in Washington D.C. to discuss ways to boost RP-US security cooperation.
Malacañang also laughed off claims by the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) that an “anti-Arroyo” position must be a minimum requirement of presidential bets in 2010.
“Well, kung ‘yan ang tingin nila, respetuhin natin ‘yan pero sa unang nagpahayag ang minimum requirement, tingnan mo ang history ng grupo nila, every time may presidential election palagi anti- ang grupo nila (If that’s what they think, we respect it but we ask the public to look at the group too. Every time there is a presidential election they will always oppose whoever is in power),” he said.
“Sila-sila rin naman ang mga kababayan natin na sumisigaw laban sa gobyerno kahit sino nakaupo. Kung wala silang ginagawa dati wala tayong expect sa kanila kundi sumigaw ng sumigaw (They have been doing nothing except throw brickbats at whoever is in office. If they cannot go beyond that, we cannot expect them to go beyond rabble-rousing),” he added.
Golez similarly brushed aside claims by the Nacionalista Party (NP) of Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., saying the administration party never asked the NP to ally with it.
He said Claudio already made it clear the administration is not wooing Villar or the NP.
“Itanong natin si Secretary Claudio kung gusto sila makasama, baka hindi rin (Why not ask Claudio if the administration wants the NP as an ally. For all we know, it may not),” he said. -
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