Lakas-Kampi-CMD bares list of interim nat'l officers

MANILA, Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has named the officers that would compose the national executive committee of the “political powerhouse" Lakas-Kampi-CMD party. The committee will be in charge of choosing the administration’s standard-bearer for the 2010 national elections. In a news conference on Wednesday, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., the party’s senior vice president for external affairs, said Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr. would sit as vice chairmen of the party. Puno was the chairman of Kampi prior to the merger, while Nograles was president of Lakas-CMD. “Together, they represent some of the best leaders of both former Lakas-CMD and Kampi – now merged into a political powerhouse," Belmonte said. President Arroyo is the party’s national chairperson while former President Fidel V. Ramos sits as chairman emeritus. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita will be the party’s president, while Deputy House Speaker and Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia has been appointed senior vice president for internal affairs. Belmonte said that the party “is in excellent hands" under the leadership of these senior members. “(We) will henceforth move firmly forward, propelled by its founding ideals and principles and the vision for the Filipino people that it strives to achieve," the Quezon City mayor added. The other appointed officials are: * Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, senior vice president for finance; * Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, secretary general; * Deputy Speaker and Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar, treasurer; * Sorsogon Rep. Raul Solis, senior deputy secretary general; * Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, senior deputy secretary general; * Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, senior deputy secretary general; * Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, senior deputy secretary general; * Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, deputy treasurer; * Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando, vice president for the National Capital Region (NCR); * Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. and Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan, vice presidents for Luzon; * Iloilo Rep. Arthur Defensor and Cebu Rep. Nerissa Ruiz, vice presidents for Visayas; * Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco Matugas, vice presidents for Mindanao; * Chief presidential legal counsel Raul Gonzalez, vice president for legal affairs; and * Local Water Utilities Administration chief Prospero Pichay, vice president for members and recruitment Nograles confirmed the appointments in a text message to GMANews.TV. Party members had authorized President Arroyo to appoint the interim officials in a resolution approved during the formalization of the merger last May 28. President Arroyo said during the event that the merger of the two administration parties proves that there would be elections in 2010. - GMANews.TV