Palace welcomes FPJ-Loren team up

Malacañang appeared unperturbed by the formal proclamation yesterday of the team-up of movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. and Sen. Loren Legarda for the May elections.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the entry of Legarda in the presidential tandems would make it interesting for voters because they will have more choices.

"Our view has always been, the more choices (of candidates), the better for our democracy," Bunye said.

Legarda announced yesterday she is accepting the offer of Poe to be his running mate under the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) in the May presidential elections.

Legarda said she would join the movie actor and the KNP senatorial slate in filing their certificates of candidacy before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) today.

Legarda will be facing off with her colleague Sen. Noli de Castro, another broadcaster-turned-politician.

Legarda will be running under the opposition banner with Poe while De Castro will be the running mate of President Arroyo in her bid to seek a full six-year term in May.

Poe’s choice of Legarda was a surprise. Poe, the 64-year-old Filipino version of John Wayne, is a close friend of ex-President Joseph Estrada, himself a former movie star who was toppled from power in a bloodless popular revolt in 2001.

Legarda was among the senator-judges who presided over Estrada’s aborted impeachment trial for corruption shortly before the revolt. She became Senate majority leader soon after Mrs. Arroyo replaced Estrada.

Television clips showed her crying when pro-Estrada senators voted to scuttle key evidence against the then- president, effectively ending the impeachment trial.

The revolt swept Mrs. Arroyo, then vice president, to power while Estrada was arrested and charged with the capital offense of plunder.

Mrs. Arroyo has picked De Castro, another broadcast star, while Poe picked Legarda, another broadcaster. Both senators are stablemates at ABS-CBN, the country’s largest broadcast network.

Unlike De Castro, Legarda’s term as senator ends in June, a month after the elections. She would be out of public office if she loses in the vice presidential race.

Legarda claimed she took the "riskier path" of accepting Poe’s offer than opting for re-election, saying she will not "shirk from the responsibility and the challenge of serving our people in a higher office."

Legarda, however, admitted De Castro has an edge over her in popularity surveys. "But I hope to overcome that with hard work," she said.

Supporters of De Castro, on the other hand, downplayed the Poe-Legarda tandem, describing the political pair up as "weak."

House Deputy Speaker for Visayas Raul Gonzalez (Iloilo) also belittled the Poe-Legarda tandem.

"All I can say is birds of the same feather flock together," he said. "Both are showbiz-oriented."

Supporters of De Castro led by Isko Catibayan of the Kabayan for Vice President Movement (KVPM) said the tandem of Poe and Legarda represents "political inexperience and it reeks of very selfish opportunism."

Even as Legarda was admired for her position during the impeachment trial of Estrada, Catibayan said many of those who participated in the EDSA II uprising that ousted the former leader are disgusted over the developments.

Catibayan said Legarda has turned into a traditional politician by opting to run with Poe, who has no experience in public service but is widely popular among voters. — With Mike Frialde, Paolo Romero, AFP