Coup plotter Danny Lim also wants to run for senator

SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya – It seems that another Magdalo soldier has been bitten by the political bug.

Detained Army Brigadier Gen. Danilo Lim is reportedly eyeing a seat in the Senate where his colleague, former Marine Lieutenant second grade Antonio Trillanes IV, now sits as a senator despite also being under detention at Camp Crame’s custodial center.

Supporters here indicated that Lim, a native of this town, is seriously considering running in next year’s election.

This has been bolstered by the sudden appearance of calendars bearing his picture and that of Trillanes, both high-ranking officers of the Magdalo group.

Lim, former head of the Army’s 1st Scout Ranger Regiment, and Trillanes, are presently detained for their involvement in the Manila Peninsula incident in 2007 that aimed to topple the government.

Aside from a seat in the Senate, Lim is also reportedly considering running for mayor of this province’s premier town in next year’s national and local elections.

“That’s a positive development. It would give the people the luxury of good choices,” said public school teacher Harriet Cabauatan, Lim’s high school batchmate at the Catholic-run Saint Louis School.

Talk of Lim’s political plans started when streamers expressing Lim’s congratulations to the town and barangay fiestas started to appear, in addition his posters and calendars.

Volunteer Paul Santiago said they were also distributing leaflets and membership forms in support of Lim’s possible senatorial or mayoral bid.

Political observers here said that, if and when he runs for mayor, Lim, with his stature and charisma, will be a formidable opponent for the equally youthful Mayor Philip Dacayo, a first-term mayor.

Lim, who worked as a part-time houseboy, graduated high school as salutatorian in 1972 with Dr. Marilou Gilo-Abon, now president of the Nueva Vizcaya State University, as valedictorian. Abon described Lim as a very principled man.

Born into a poor family, Lim entered the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) right after high school. He subsequently attended the US Military Academy at West Point.

Lim’s mother worked as a laundrywoman while his father was a porter at the town’s public market.

“He (Lim) was very studious and quiet back then,” recalls another batch mate, Isabelo Ordoñez Jr.

An added factor to Lim’s mayoralty bid is his affiliation with the still politically influential Tiongson clan, whose patriarch, the late Pedro Tiongson, had been a long-time mayor here.

“At least he would submit himself to democratic processes to advance his idealism and love for country, and not through extra-constitutional means,” said Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Thompson Lantion, himself a native of this province and former police major general.

Lantion, who hails from the capital Bayombong, and Lim are both graduates of the PMA.

A partymate of Dacayo in the Lakas-CMD, Lantion, who failed in his congressional bid in 2004, is also reportedly eyeing the governorship.

Lim came to prominence as one of the assistants of now Sen. Gregorio Honasan, one of the heroes of the 1986 EDSA People Power revolt. He was one of the key members of the Young Officers Union who staged uprisings during former President Corazon Aquino’s administration.