Lakas eyeing Teodoro, too, for 2010

MANILA, Philippines – With his “strong leadership” in the face of crisis, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. is being eyed by the ruling Lakas party as its standard bearer in the 2010 presidential elections.

Lakas executive director Ray Roquero said yesterday “strong leadership and managerial skills” are the ruling party’s top criteria for choosing its presidential candidate “because national stability and enhanced economic growth remain our most important national concerns.”

“Key Lakas officials feel that Secretary Teodoro possesses these qualities in a leader,” he said. “With his unblinking response to the crisis in Mindanao, he is proving that he can handle any difficult situation.”

Teodoro was a three-term Tarlac congressman before President Arroyo recruited him as her defense secretary. He was head of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) bloc in the House.

His uncle, billionaire businessman Danding Cojuangco, founded NPC in 1992 when he unsuccessfully ran for president. Cojuangco remains the NPC’s principal leader and chief financier. His political party is largely pro-administration.

Teodoro rated poorly in previous surveys of presidential and even senatorial wannabes.

However, Roquero believes that the defense chief’s handling of the Mindanao crisis would immensely boost his stock.

“He could be a Magsaysay in the making,” he said, referring to the late President Ramon Magsaysay, who became popular as defense secretary battling the Hukbalahap insurgency before aspiring for the presidency.

Roquero also said the ruling party is still expanding its list of presidential hopefuls from which it would select its 2010 standard bearer.

He said party officials, in their last meeting, added the name of Chairman Efraim Genuino of the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor) to the list.

“Chairman Genuino possesses managerial acumen and experience, qualities that informed voters want from their leaders,” he said.

“Proof of such acumen is his unparalleled success at the helm of Pagcor and his vision of an entertainment city that is to rise on prime reclaimed land in Pasay City and make the country a major tourist and entertainment destination in Asia,” he added.

Others who are in the Lakas list of presidential hopefuls are Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila Development Authority, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Vice President Noli de Castro.

De Castro, however, is not a Lakas member, though the party adopted him in 2004 as President Arroyo’s running mate.

Fernando’s arch critic in Congress, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, has urged him to “make a U-turn on his presidential ambition” after he did not rate in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey of presidential hopefuls.