‘Admin tandem still the team to beat in 2010’

The administration's presidential and vice presidential tandem is still the team to beat in the 2010 elections, an administration stalwart said Monday. House Speaker Prospero Nograles, executive vice chairman of administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, made the statement shortly after Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II announced that he would be the running mate of Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino next year. "They are all challengers to the throne, like boxing. The incumbents, administration always the team to beat," Nograles said in a text message. "They all want to dethrone the incumbent champions, just like in boxing, defending champ against all challengers." Lakas-Kampi-CMD is expected to field Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno as its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively. Teodoro, a former congressman, has consistently lagged behind other presidential candidates, most of whom are from the opposition, in public preference surveys.

Acknowledging that "all opposition teams are always a threat to [the] administration," Nograles said his party would not take for granted any of those vying for the country's top spots. When asked what he thought of the Aquino-Roxas tandem, Nograles said, "No doubt that it looks like a good team except that their only focus is to attack the administration to get sympathy or votes." Both Aquino and Roxas are known critics of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Roxas in particular had earlier accused the President of not acting swiftly enough to ensure the immediate implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Law. The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), meanwhile, remained undeterred by the Aquino-Roxas tandem despite Aquino’s strong survey showings. NPC spokesperson and Valenzuela City Rep. Rex Gatchalian said in a text message that a tandem led by either one of Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda “will still be the most formidable in next year’s polls." “The NPC tandem that we will announce will definitely eclipse the other parties' tandems. The components of our national tandem, Sen Escudero and Sen Legarda, have been registering very good survey numbers even if neither has made any official candidacy announcements," Gatchalian said. “This is proof of their implicit strengths as candidates, what more if they are paired together on a Chiz-Loren or Loren-Chiz line-up," he added. Nacionalista Party (NP) spokesperson Gilbert Remulla said in a text message, “may the best man win." The NP will field as its standard bearer former Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. While Villar has not yet announced who will be his running mate, rumors are ripe that he is eyeing Vice President Noli de Castro. - GMANews.TV