Alayon plans depend on where NP is headed

CEBU, Philippines - The homegrown Alayon Party, formed and headed by first district Rep. Eduardo Gullas will, for the time being, delay making decisions that involve the forming of alliances with other parties until the Nationalista Party, the political party the congressman is affiliated with in Congress, finally coalesces, if at all, with either the Liberal Party or with the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) for the midterm elections.

Gullas formed an alliance in 2010 with NP president and Senator Manuel “Manny” Villar who ran and lost in the presidential election to President Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party.

Gullas had also received invitations for Alayon to coalesce with the LP and NP.

The Cebuano lawmaker said Villar is still consulting with his political leaders, Gullas included, governors, and local chief executives.

“I have to defer my decision with the NP,” Gullas said, adding that he would consider heavily the decision of the NP.

Gullas said he worked closely with Villar when he was still congressman.

He said they are more than friends considering the support Villar had extended to him.

He said Villar had supported his bills such as the Cebu Comprehensive Protective Landscape and the Cebu Economic Zone, to name a few.

The House of Representatives journal shows Gullas is affiliated not with Alayon but with NP.

Gullas said he is also considering accepting the invitation from the LP because of his closeness with former senator and now Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas III.

The relationship could be traced back to his father, former senator Gerry Roxas, in 1963.

Gullas said he was also invited by then president Joseph Estrada and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to join NA.

But again, Gullas said Alayon will still consult its political leaders in the first district.

Political turncoatism has become a phenomenon since the Philippines junked its bipartisan system and adopted the multi-party system after the People Power Revolution in 1986.