It will be GMA-Kabayan vs FPJ-Loren — Palace

Malacañang predicted yesterday that the May 10 elections will be a contest between the administration ticket of President Arroyo and Sen. Noli de Castro and the tandem of movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. and Sen. Loren Legarda.

"From all the different camps vying for the presidency, the two teams that will be fighting it out in the coming elections are (that) of President Arroyo and Sen. Noli de Castro and the team of FPJ and Loren," said presidential campaign spokesman Michael Defensor.

Journalists to whom Defensor made the fearless forecast interpreted the remark as a "put down" of the Aksyon Demokratiko ticket of former education secretary Raul Roco, who has consistently finished ahead of the President in opinion surveys.

Defensor’s remark was also an apparent dismissal of the candidacy of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who has yet to name his running mate.

"We’re very confident about the team of the President and Senator De Castro. We do not only have the winnability but also the performance and the track record for doing service," said Defensor, also chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

"We are not really threatened by the candidacy of anyone," he said.

He also noted that the Arroyo-De Castro tandem enjoys the operational advantage of being supported by a united coalition while there appears to be a "three-way split" in the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP).

Defensor particularly cited the internal disputes within the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), which was divided over who between Poe and Lacson should get the official party nomination.

Defensor claimed that even Poe’s bosom buddy, jailed former President Joseph Estrada, is "not happy with the situation" but did not elaborate.

"Definitely, the opposition is divided with the split-up of Lacson (and LDP chairman, Sen. Edgardo Angara)," he said. "I think the efforts of the opposition will not be unified with the split, which is not only two-way but three-way. I understand even former President Estrada was not happy with the situation."

Defensor said this division in the opposition ranks has allowed the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party to recruit national and local leaders who have been "eased out" by formation of the Poe-Legarda tandem.

"The President, in a four-way fight, is tied with FPJ in Class E and I feel that many of those in the ABCD (socio-economic classes) will vote for President Arroyo just to prevent an FPJ presidency," he said.

Despite claims of party unity, however, Defensor admitted that Lakas-CMD’s senatorial ticket also remains incomplete because of candidates who backed out to join the KNP.

Among these candidates, he said, are former senator Ernesto Herrera, former youth commission chairwoman Amina Rasul-Bernardo and former interior secretary Alfredo Lim.

Those who remain in the senatorial slate are re-electionist Senators Robert Barbers and Robert Jaworski, former trade and industry secretary Manuel Roxas II, Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, former senator Heherson Alvarez, Videogram Regulatory Board chairman Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. and lawyer Pia Cayetano-Sebastian, daughter of the late former senator Renato Cayetano.

Defensor said it is still uncertain if Pampanga Gov. Lito Lapid will push through with his plans to run for a senatorial seat.

In the case of Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando, they have both expressed interest to stay in the executive branch, Defensor said.

He said President Legislative Liaison Office head Secretary Gabriel Claudio has been designated to finalize the Lakas-CMD senatorial slate.