Nene gearing to run in ’04?

FLORIDABLANCA, Pampanga — Is opposition leader Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. determined to run in the 2004 presidential elections?

His son, Aquilino Pimentel III, was reported to have confirmed this last Saturday.

"The top thing that Senator Pimentel could offer Filipinos is his vision. He is unlike other politicians who do not fulfill what they promised," the younger Pimentel was quoted as saying by a provincial daily newspaper here.

The younger Pimentel represented his father during turnover ceremonies for a new five-classroom school building for an elementary school in Barangay Valdez here last Saturday. The P1 million needed for the construction of the building was taken from the priority development assistance fund of the senator, who is one of the leaders of the PDP-Laban party.

The town of Floridablanca shares borders with Lubao, where President Arroyo is a registered voter and where her son, Vice Gov. Juan Miguel Arroyo is set to run for congressman under the ruling Lakas-CMD party.

"The problem is that even if we have a president and there is no direction in her administration, nothing will happen to our country," the younger Pimentel said.

He added that his father, on the other hand, "has vision and (the) political will to fulfill his vision."

"What’s important is that he has no business interests. He will not make the government a business enterprise," the younger Pimentel said, warning that politicians who prioritized their business interests have already caused enough damage to the country’s development.

Opposition Rep. Zenaida Ducut, Lakas ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) chairman in Pampanga, threw her support behind the elder Pimentel’s bid for the presidency.

"We do not have amnesia and we know how to show gratitude to those who have been of help to us in our times of need," Ducut said, thanking the elder Pimentel for the new school building.

Ducut, currently Lubao’s congresswoman, is expected to support Arroyo’s bid to take over her post. She is being eyed as a possible candidate for vice governor of Pampanga by gubernatorial contenders Lakas Rep. Oscar Rodriguez (3rd district) and LDP Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc (4th district).

Lakas party leaders are set to convince the President to run for a full six-year term in next year’s polls. Among those asked to convince her is former President Corazon Aquino, whose late husband Benigno Aquino reportedly once said that Pimentel would someday be president of the Philippines.