New Lakas-CMD recruits sworn in

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. swore in yesterday several governors and local officials as members of the ruling Lakas party.

Leading the new Lakas recruits are Governors Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, Luis Raymond Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, Miguel Rene Dominguez of Sarangani, and Benjamin Loong of Sulu.

Also sworn in were Vice Gov. Jesus Sacdalan of North Cotabato, and Arnan Panaligan of Oriental Mindoro, Borromeo Melchor of Benguet, Glen Prudenciano of Ifugao, Dominador Belac of Kalinga, Maximo Dalog of Mt. Province, Rogelio Espina of Biliran, Jericho Petilla of Leyte, and Bimbo Sinsuat of the newly created province of Shariff Kabunsuan.

"With the inclusion of more local executives (in) our fold now and in the days ahead, the ruling coalition led by Lakas will continue to reinforce its status as the largest and most dominant political party in the country in terms of machinery and resources," De Venecia said.

This means that only Lakas is capable of fielding a complete ticket from the national to the local levels, he said.

Meanwhile, former Senators Vicente "Tito" Sotto III and Tessie Aquino-Oreta formally pledged allegiance yesterday to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

Both former senators took their oaths of allegiance to the NPC party before NPC president Frisco San Juan and NPC secretary-general and Pasig City Rep. Jack Duavit.

"I have decided to join the NPC of my own volition," Sotto said in a statement. "However, I remain steadfast in the pursuit of reforms and meaningful changes that I would like ordinary Filipinos to achieve."

Sotto is one of the top opposition candidates in the coming senatorial race.

"Through the unveiling of a new party manifesto, (the) NPC has renewed and reinvigorated its efforts to improve the system of governance in the country, enhance the role of (the) private sector as (an) engine of change and to uplift the quality of life of Filipinos," Sotto added.

Oreta, for her part, said in the same press statement that, "I sincerely believe that (the) NPC will provide a big push in enabling education reforms in our country. This is what convinced me to join the party."

"Our country needs to move forward, not backward," she added. "We need to champion education in our country and sustain efforts to make our public school system globally competitive. In its new manifesto, (the) NPC puts priority on education, as well as on greater investments for our country’s greatest resource — our people."

With its new manifesto, the NPC considers itself a pro-business, pro-education, principled and progressive, the statement said.

Sotto and Oreta were partymates in the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) before moving to NPC. — Jess Diaz