Sotto resigns as DDB chair to run for senator

MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Vicente Sotto III resigned yesterday as chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) to run again for senator in the May 2010 elections.

Sotto said he would remain with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) even though the party has no presidential candidate for next year’s polls.

He also did not say if he would support any of the current presidential aspirants or if he would support Sen. Loren Legarda, an NPC member who will run for vice president with presidential bet Sen. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP).

“We (NPC) do not have a presidential candidate but we have candidates in all levels,” he told reporters during a press conference at the DDB office in Quezon City, noting that the party’s supposed presidential bet Sen. Francis Escudero had resigned from NPC.

He said Legarda’s decision to run with Villar would not affect other NPC candidates since the party is still one of the biggest political organizations in the country.

Sotto stressed that he has no plan to resign from the NPC even though many of his party mates, friends and even relatives now belong to other groups.

“I am confident that I have the support of Sharon (Cuneta),” he said after being asked if he would eventually be joining Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s Liberal Party where his megastar niece’s husband Sen. Francis Pangilinan is a mainstay.

Sotto said he and other NPC members definitely enjoy the support of tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco who has assured the party of his solid support.

Sotto also thanked President Arroyo “for giving him the privilege and honor” of serving her administration for 14 months.

He also expressed gratitude to the DDB officials and employees and the staff of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) led by Director General Dionisio Santiago.

Sotto vowed to fight for stronger laws against illegal drugs.

He said the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 needs to be amended and strengthened, particularly Section 21 which basically deals with requirements necessary for witnesses in buy-bust entrapment operations and other anti-drug programs.

Senators hit Loren

Senators Pangilinan, Panfilo Lacson and Jamby Madrigal expressed belief that Senator Legarda should explain to the public her agreeing to be the running mate of Villar whom she had previously criticized.

Former senator Franklin Drilon, national chairman of the Liberal Party, also said Legarda would have to answer this question during the campaign.

“Loren will be hard pressed to explain in the 90-day campaign trail why she had publicly accused Villar of wrongdoing in the C-5 scandal, justified his removal as Senate president because of the controversy and now accepts his offer to be his vice president and support his bid,” Pangilinan said in a text message.

Lacson said Legarda appealed to him not to hit her when she approached him on the floor before she declared her tandem with Villar.

“I gave her my word. All I can say is that maybe they are perfect to become a tandem. They fit because they have the same character, the same credibility, the same attitude. So they really deserve each other. I’m not hitting her. She joined Villar because she believed in his credibility and character. So they should really deserve each other,” said Lacson, a known critic of Villar who exposed the C-5 Road controversy that linked the NP standard-bearer to the budget insertion for the road project that would benefit his real estate business in Las Piñas.

Madrigal said Legarda’s decision was a form of political prostitution when she turned into the girl Friday of Villar.

She said Legarda was an opportunist and she was wondering how Legarda could be Villar’s partner when she had said a lot of bad things about him.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III rejected Malacañang’s offer for him to join the senatorial ticket of Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

“I’m still undecided. I want to continue our projects here (Department of Health). There are still so many things to do. I’m thinking if I should finish (my term here),” he said.

The health chief was among the seven senatorial bets of Lakas-Kampi for the 2010 polls announced by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Duque said he is also considering the possibility of running for congressman in the second district of Pangasinan.

Meanwhile, Sen. Manuel Lapid prefers to run for governor of Pampanga rather than seek reelection, sources said.

Lapid did not attend the convention of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD at the Philippine International Convention Center, despite the announcement of Ermita that he would be one of the senatorial candidates of the administration.

Lapid’s executive assistant Alex Marcelino said they did not receive the invitation for the convention on time and so the senator proceeded with his appointment in Pampanga.

“Maybe they faxed it to our office the night before. We only saw it this morning (meaning yesterday). We also did not receive any call or text,” Marcelino said.

Sources said Lapid was not inclined to run for senator again because “he feels he’s not fit for the job” and that his chances had become slim because “people do not like movie actors that much anymore.”

This developed as the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) led by Sen. Edgardo Angara has expressed support for the vice presidential bid of Legarda and senators who are seeking re-election for next year’s national elections.

Legarda was unanimously voted to be the party’s VP guest candidate during the LDP’s national executive council meeting yesterday at the Champagne Room of the Manila Hotel.

Angara reiterated that the LDP was a party borne out of reform and that it will continue to push for key reforms in governance, arts and culture, education, science and technology, and finance and banking. – With Aurea Calica, Sheila Crisostomo, Christina Mendez