NPC forms panel to choose presidential bet

MANILA, Philippines – The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) has decided to form a 15-member panel to choose the presidential candidate it will endorse in the May elections.

Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga, NPC spokesman, told reporters yesterday that the party made the decision following its members’ meeting with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night.

He said they agreed to keep the membership of the committee secret so it would not be influenced in choosing the presidential aspirant the party would support.

He said the panel is composed of party members from the Senate, the House of Representatives and local government units.

Responding to questions, Enverga said billionaire businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., NPC founder-emeritus chairman, is not part of the selection committee.

He said he is “95-percent sure that we will pick a common presidential candidate.”

He added that their party would announce its choice before the start of the election campaign on Feb. 9.

Duterte is the fourth presidential aspirant NPC members have vetted. Before him, they met with Vice President Jejomar Binay, Sen. Grace Poe and Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas.

Enverga said all four have a “fair chance” in their selection process.

However, he said many of his partymates are still leaning toward supporting Poe.

“But they will toe the party line. They will support whoever will be our presidential candidate,” he said.

NPC is the second largest political group in the country after the ruling Liberal Party.

It supported then Sen. Benigno Aquino III in the 2010 elections. It was split between then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. in 2004.

Cojuangco founded NPC as the vehicle for his unsuccessful presidential run in 1992.