Villar wants Noli to be part of Nacionalista

Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. is considering recruiting Vice President Noli de Castro to the Nacionalista Party even if both of them are reportedly gunning for the presidency in the 2010 elections.

Villar, NP president and party standard-bearer, said he would talk to De Castro at the “right time” if they could possibly come together.

“At the right time, friends will talk. But as we see it, this is not yet the right time. But of course, normally, friends are the ones who talk first,” Villar said over radio dzMM.

But he clarified there were no negotiations yet even if they were the best of friends and both members of the Wednesday Club.

At present, Villar said he and De Castro would only have a good time when together but that they had agreed that they would not fight.

“We’re not even sure if there would be presidential elections. What is important is that friends will remain friends,” Villar said.

De Castro, on the other hand, said there can not be two presidential bets in the political party he will join.

He also admitted that talks are still ongoing, but he has not decided which party to join.

He belied reports that he has accepted Villar’s offer to be his vice president in next year’s election, reiterating that he will not run for vice president again.

“It has been rumored that I was already paid to run as vice president for Manny. That’s not true. There cannot be two presidential candidates in one political party,” De Castro told The STAR.

De Castro has been topping recent surveys among presidential aspirants, followed by Villar and Sen. Loren Legarda, who lost to the vice president in the 2004 elections.

The administration parties – Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino – are said to be eyeing De Castro as its standard bearer for 2010.

Villar, however, did not seem to be bothered by the Lakas-Kampi coalition.

“We believe that the people will express their sentiments (during the election). And here, parties are not really given much importance because as former (House) Speaker and Senate President, we understand what the local officials feel and at the right time, they will choose who they want to become president and not the one that their party endorsed,” Villar said.    – With Pia Lee Brago