A Villar-Loren tandem?

The thought of this tandem crossed my mind, when, seated beside Loren at a lunch for media last Friday was Nacionalista Party (NP) spokesman lawyer Adel Tamano.

It wasn’t the first time talk of a Manny Villar-Loren Legarda tandem for 2010 surfaced and seeing Tamano at the lunch stoked the speculations.

“This is just a coincidence,” demurred Loren, who recently announced that she was running for vice president under the Nationalist People’s Coalition but was orphaned of a running mate when Sen. Chiz Escudero bolted the party.

“No, it is not a coincidence. It is a sign,” insisted Tamano. Loren claimed Tamano just happened to be having lunch at Kai in Greenbelt at the very day she was having a media lunch.

Oh well, methinks the lady protests too much. (Tamano did not stay in our table for long.) But I agree with Loren that people change everyday — what is important, she says, is that she doesn’t change her decisions daily.

“I do not change my mind easily,” said Loren, who said she decided to run for vice president two months ago after Escudero paid a visit to her office and informed her of his intent to seek the presidency under their party, the NPC.

“Ma’am, I will even resign as senator to prove my intent to govern and run for president,” she quoted him as saying to her. Loren stood as sponsor during Escudero’s wedding, so he calls her “Ma’am.”

She said she agreed to slide down to vice president “30 seconds” into their heart-to-heart talk. She said she is not ambitious and as she approaches her 50th year, has this certain “equanimity.”

What was important to her, she said, was that their political plans not split the party.

Loren said she was caught unawares by Chiz’s decision to bolt the NPC, but respected it nevertheless. “I do not blame him and I cannot judge him,” she said.

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Now without Chiz as a running mate, Loren said she can run with anybody as long as that person “is not corrupt.”

“I can work with anybody. As far as I’m concerned, I have no enemies,” she said.

She believes she is equally competent to be president, even if she is running for vice president. And if elected, she won’t be a “spare tire.”

“I hope to be a co-pilot” in the governing of the nation, she said. If offered a Cabinet position by the new president, she will be interested in the agriculture and environment portfolios.

Loren’s friend Susan Joven asked her to say the first thing that comes to her mind when the following names were mentioned. These were Loren’s answers: President Arroyo - “Hardworking;” former President Joseph Estrada - “Para sa Mahirap;” Sen. Manny Villar - “Self-made;” Sen. Noynoy Aquino - “Cory;” Sen. Mar Roxas - “Tita Judy and my mom Bessie;” Sen. Chiz Escudero - “Where are you?” Secretary Gilbert Teodoro - “NDCC;” Korina Sanchez - “Mar;” Danding Cojuangco - “Chairman Emeritus;” and Loren Legarda - “Luntiang Pilipinas.” (Loren says Mar’s mother Judy and her own mother Bessie were best friends. Her mom even stayed for a few weeks in the Roxas home when Sen. Gerry Roxas passed away in order to comfort his widow.)

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Asked last week if he was open to having Loren as his running mate, Villar said yes.

“The NP is open to anybody who wants to join or ally with us,” he was quoted by The STAR as saying. He said both Escudero and Loren were worthy running mates, saying of the latter, “Senator Loren is also okay, whoever she chooses to run with can also stand proud.”

Talking of Villar, he says the country should hold more contests for entrepreneurs than beauty contests. So recently, the Nacionalista Party chose 60 promising entrepreneurs out of thousands as this year’s awardees of “Pondo sa Sipag, Puhunan sa Tiyaga.” The awards were given in a well-attended event at the NBC Tent at The Fort, Global City in Taguig.

The awards, launched in November 2007 during the party’s centennial commemoration, aim to promote entrepreneurship as a way of combating poverty. The 2009 national winners who received a capital grant of P100,000 each were Rufo dela Cruz of Calasiao, Pangasinan, who makes and sell “Bella’s Puto Calasiao” and Elisa Tomas of Quirino for her “Melizabeth food products” business.

Villar said, “We want to encourage our countrymen to come up with feasible business ideas that will not only uplift their lives but also the country’s economy. By honoring our model citizens, we seek to increase their tribe.”

The products of the winners, which included pottery, abaca handicraft, mango preserves, wine, special lomi and pansit cogon, pastries and native delicacies, were showcased in an exhibit also at the NBC Tent.

Likewise, NP also promoted its youth entrepreneurship program dubbed “BDABoss,” which seeks to harness entrepreneurial skills among the country’s youth.

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 (You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez@yahoo.com)