Sen. Gordon: Gwen ideal running mate

CEBU – Senator Secretary Richard “Dick” Gordon believes he is the most qualified candidate for president in next year’s elections and that Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is the “most ideal” running mate.

“I’m ready to be a president... Gwen is still the ideal person for vice president. She has a clear vision and really implements it,” Gordon said in an interview.

Gordon, who was in Cebu for a wedding, said Garcia has the “beauty and brains” and is fit to be vice president, considering her efforts in promoting the industrial and economic growth of Cebu, which has made the province a “model of economic progress for the entire Philippines.”

Gordon said he and Garcia will make a good team because he possesses the same values prominent in Cebuanos- that is, being smart and industrious.

But while Garcia earlier said Gordon is “deserving to lead our country” because of “his sincerity, his passion, his competence,” the governor yesterday reiterated she does not intend to run for a national post.

In a text message to The FREEMAN, Garcia said, “I thank him for his faith in me. But, once again, as I already stated in my SOPA…I am not seeking a higher position. I will continue to serve Cebu as governor.”

Political strategists believe a Gordon-Garcia tandem would make a potent presidential ticket considering that Gordon would be able to reap votes from Luzon and Garcia from Cebu, the biggest voting bloc in the Visayas and Mindanao.

It maybe recalled that it was in Cebu where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo obtained a one million vote margin over her rival in the 2007 election.

Strategists say Gordon and Garcia may even run under a “GG” slogan, which represent the first letters of their family names or the slogan “Good Governance,” a principle that the two leaders believe in.

Even before Gordon, Garcia had been wooed by potential presidential candidates as a running mate, largely because of how she had transformed Cebu into a dynamic province.

Vice President Noli de Castro, in an earlier interview, had said Garcia is capable to run even for the presidency.

Aside from Gordon, the others who have publicly declared to run in 2010 include Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando. Both have also started being visible in Cebu last year. — Michelle L. Palaubsanon/JMO (THE FREEMAN)