Defense chief kicks off presidential campaign?

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes is among those being eyed by President Arroyo to be the administration standard-bearer in the elections next year.

At a forum gathering residents from resettlement sites in Central Luzon, chairman Michael Defensor of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council said Reyes is indeed a possible choice for president if Mrs. Arroyo keeps her word not to run.

"I think the President is open to having Angie Reyes for the presidency," Defensor said, adding that "it would depend a lot on the survey." But he noted that Reyes could just as likely run for vice president or senator.

The gathering Tuesday had all the trimmings of a political campaign, with paper fan souvenirs, free hamburgers and bottled mineral water, free transportation and even singer Imelda Papin, who is now vice governor of Camarines Sur.

A crowd of 10,000 victims of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 from 16 resettlement areas listened as Defensor and Mabalacat Mayor Marino Morales introduced Reyes as "the next president of the Philippines."

"If President Arroyo does not change her decision not to run in the coming elections, he (Reyes) will be the next president of the Philippines," Defensor told the huge crowd at the main amphitheater of the Expo Filipino here.

The occasion was actually the first congress of the Homeowners’ Association of the resettlement sites, but the political color could not be denied.

In his speech, Pinatubo Project Management Office (PPMO) executive director Deinrado Dimalibot urged lahar victims to organize themselves and constitute a party-list entitled to a representative in Congress.

Despite inclement weather, an estimated 20,000 folk arrived at the Expo Filipino at about 2 p.m. in time for the purported congress.

Reyes however arrived at 4:50 p.m. after he and his party were caught in a traffic jam along the North expressway, upon being advised not to take a helicopter from an earlier engagement in Cavite due to bad weather.

By the time he arrived, the crowd had thinned to 10,000.

Dimalibot admitted to The STAR that his office spent some P200,000 for the gathering which, he stressed, was meant as a forum for the lahar victims to air their problems in the permanent resettlement areas built for them by the government.

The delegates arrived on board buses and jeepneys as far as the Balaybay resettlement in Castillejos, Zambales. At the gate, cardboard fans with photos of Reyes, bottled mineral water and hamburgers were distributed.

In the middle of the huge amphitheater was a huge poster, again with a picture of Reyes, with text reminders on what to do in case of disasters. Reyes is the chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

Lahar victim Flor Santiago, 55, of lahar-buried Potrero in Bacolor, Pampanga, who now lives at the Bulaon resettlement in San Fernando City, said she and her neighbors were given free transportation to attend the affair.

She and her friends were given burgers and bottled water, though some complained that only water got to them.

Romy Lubrin, 50, of Floridablanca settlement, commented that "elections are still too far away," but added that the event last Tuesday "had political color," which is "normal in any administration."

While waiting for Reyes to arrive, costumed dancers and singers from among the lahar victims performed on stage, as emcee PPMO deputy director Flor Arrozal pleaded to those leaving to wait a bit longer.

Vice Governor Papin belted out songs with the participation of the audience, and when Reyes arrived, he was cajoled to sing along to "Kung Liligaya Ka."