6 Palace hopefuls ink covenant vs Cha-cha

MANILA, Philippines - Six rumored presidential hopefuls on Thursday sealed their commitment to thwart efforts to extend President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term through Charter change by signing a covenant. The signing occurred during a forum organized by the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) at the historic Plaza Miranda in Manila. The signing of the covenant was witnessed by representatives from the different sectors. In attendance were former President Joseph Estrada; Senators Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon, Loren Legarda, and Manuel Roxas II; and Pampanga governor Ed Panlilio. The six were said to be casting an eye on the presidency in next year’s national elections. The event - dubbed “Ang Mamamayang Pilipino… Alisto! Talakayan sa Plaza Miranda" - was originally set at 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., but inclement weather and an earlier appointment of some of the guests forced the organizers to start the program past 5 p.m. Panlilio was the first among the six to arrive at the venue. He was followed by Estrada. Escudero, Gordon, Legarda and Roxas came from a forum organized by former President Fidel Ramos in Makati City. During the forum, the aspirants took turns in promoting themselves and outshining each other. Those who received the loudest applause were Estrada, Escudero, Roxas and Panlilio. Each participant was given 90 seconds to answer the questions that they picked from a bowl. Namfrel and PPCRV had chosen the 15 questions that were asked to the presidential aspirants. The questions came from the transport, worker, teacher, and student sectors. - GMANews.TV