Coalition-seeking partners

There are interesting developments in the latest political acrimony between President Arroyo and ex-President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR). The latest came at the heels of FVR’s announcement that he has turned down the chairman emeritus title given him by the merged Lakas-CMD-Kampi. But FVR hastily clarified he is still the chairman emeritus of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) which he co-founded in 1992 with former Speaker Jose de Venecia (JDV) Jr.

FVR’s turning down this honorific title in the merged Lakas-CMD-Kampi was again seen as his breaking away from the administration’s coalition with Arroyo’s own party, Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or KAMPI. The ex-President cited he could not possibly accept this position while there is a pending petition that has yet to be resolved by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against the Lakas-CMD-Kampi merger.

This was the petition filed by JDV who asked the Comelec to intervene in this intra-party intramural over the questioned merger of the Lakas-CMD with Kampi. JDV invoked that party rules of the Lakas-CMD were violated when the merger with Kampi last May 28 was rammed through their membership without due process.

The Lakas-CMD-Kampi filed last July its merger accreditation with the Comelec to be recognized as a singular political party with President Arroyo as the national chairperson. The Comelec Second Division is set to resume the hearing on the party accreditation on Thursday with Lakas-Kampi-CMD party Secretary General and presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio who is expected to attend to defend the merged coalition.

In the meantime, administration stalwarts led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, as president of the Lakas-CMD-Kampi, announced that the merged coalition partners would convene its executive committee meeting this week to finalize its rules on the selection process for the coalition’s candidates for next year’s elections from presidential standard-bearer to vice presidential and senatorial bets.

With the political season starting very early on, the FVR and JDV group would expectedly intensify their attacks to derail the Lakas-CMD-KAMPI merger. Grapevine sources, though, tell us the President scrapped the New York leg of her scheduled trip abroad next week precisely to be around for the Lakas-CMD-Kampi gab, when the coalition chooses its presidential bet for 2010. Whoever that will be shall be carried by the administration juggernaut, or bear the burden of an Arroyo endorsement, or both.

Last week, FVR reportedly joined forces with JDV, a fellow Pangasinense who announced that their group of Lakas “originals” would decide “which party it will coalesce with” in the coming May 2010 elections. This is interesting because it appears it is the unilateral decision of the De Venecia camp as to who it may want to coalesce with.

It’s as if the “chosen coalition partner” is left with no choice but to accept the partnership. To date, we do not know which parties of the leading candidates are “hot” on the prospect of partnering with the breakaway group of JDV.

Would the Liberal Party (LP) of Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Mar Roxas II rush over to a proposed political marriage with De Venecia’s group? This is not a big possibility. Many in the LP camp are staunch anti-Arroyo personalities who might not wish to have anything to do with people who have worked with, and actually supported the current administration.

But if we consider the Filipino tradition of “utang na loob” or paying one’s gratitude, especially political debts, it would not be surprising if FVR would give his support to Noynoy’s presidential bid. After all, it was former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, Noynoy’s late mother, who anointed FVR as her presidential candidate. Setting aside also personal family friendships, the late President Aquino also defied the popular vote of then ruling pro-administration party Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) that elected in their party convention the late Speaker Ramon Mitra and she instead picked FVR as her “anointed” presidential bet.

Would the Nacionalista Party (NP) of front-running Sen. Manny Villar consider the Lakas “origs” group of JDV? Possible. But given the fact that Villar has excellent ratings and appears to already have the biggest war chest for May 2010 to ensure a viable bid, one wonders if his group may consider the De Venecia pack of little added value or, at worst, a political liability.

Villar is in full speed ahead of his presidential bid with more and more political leaders joining the NP camp to support him. This was impressed upon us by NP’s stable of good-looking spokesmen led by Sen.Alan Peter Cayetano, Laguna Rep.Justin Chipeco, former Cavite Rep.Gilbert Remulla and lawyer Adel Tamano who visited The STAR last week. Without going into details as to who are their latest recruits into the NP camp, Cayetano, however, clarified the NP is not into party-raiding but the exodus is in their favor.

When I asked him if Villar’s NP would be willing to coalesce with JDV’s group, Cayetano replied their party is open to them as individuals but not as a group. Cayetano, though, conceded a Villar and JDV alliance would not be far-fetched since the two are erstwhile colleagues in Congress. Villar and JDV can be natural allies, after all, both share the sad experience of being once Speaker but unceremoniously ousted by their House colleagues.

Would either Senators Chiz Escudero or Loren Legarda — the possible Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) presidential and vice presidential tandem — tinker with the idea of an alignment with JDV’s break-away group? Possible, but Escudero has been too much of an administration critic to go to bed with the two. That would be a minus for the idealistic Escudero.

The other option for JDV’s group to coalesce with, is former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP). But then again, how would either Estrada or FVR explain their political alliance given all the negative things they have said against one another on countless occasions?

In Philippine politics, nothing is impossible, including whichever party would be “fortunate” enough to be selected by the JDV group as their coalition partner.