Magdalo set to announce support for Villar, Roxas

(Updated 10:34 PM) A group of junior military officers that allegedly staged a mutiny against the Arroyo government in 2003 is set to announce its support for Senator Manuel Villar Jr. for president and Senator Manuel Roxas II for vice-president. Knowledgeable sources revealed this to GMANews.TV on Tuesday, a day before the Magdalo group, which claims a membership of 55,000, is scheduled to make an announcement. The Magdalo group — whose officers took over the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center, an upscale serviced apartment in Makati City in July 2003 to demand President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation — will announce its presidential, vice-presidential, and senatorial candidates in a press conference Wednesday. To be held in Greenhills, San Juan, it will be presided by Magdalo group national spokesman Francisco "Ashley" Acedillo, a media advisory stated. Acedillo is running for a Lower House seat representing Cebu City's first district. Villar’s camp has not received any reports of the endorsement from the Magdalo group, Nacionalista Party (NP) spokesperson and senatorial aspirant Gilbert Remulla said. “We have not heard about that," he told GMANews.TV. In the meantime, Liberal Party (LP) spokesperson lawyer Edwin Lacierda said that the party has received unconfirmed reports about Magdalo’s endorsement of Roxas. However, he said that LP is still hoping that the group would also support the party’s standard-bearer, Sen. Benigno Simeon Aquino III. “We welcome all endorsements… I hope they haven’t decided on the president yet, because we have a better candidate," Lacierda told GMANews.TV in a separate phone interview. Trillanes supports Ople Candidates to be supported by the Magdalo group will be “a mixed ticket," Susan Ople, an NP senatorial candidate, said in a press statement. The candidates were chosen through “a series of consultations among the Magdalo officers and members," Ople said, adding that she is grateful and proud to be included in the Magdalo list. No less than detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, the group’s leader, assured Ople of Magdalo’s support during a meeting held on Tuesday. The two met at the custodial services unit of the Philippine National Police where Trillanes is detained. She was also informed that the Magdalo movement will actively campaign and vote for her. "Senator Trillanes told me to expect a major announcement tomorrow regarding the full line-up to be backed by the 55,000-strong Magdalo party," Ople, a former Labor official, said in the same statement. “He assured me that this comprises a solid vote among members with a multiplier effect on their families and communities." Ople said she was briefed about the names of the Magdalo-backed candidates for president, vice-president, and 12 senators. Consultative process Lawyer Rey Robles, Trillanes’ chief of staff, said the Magdalo Party followed a consultative process in formulating its own list of candidates. Party delegates were made to select from among the senatorial bets on the basis of the latter’s character, vision, and leadership, Robles said. Earlier, the Magdalo group endorsed the senatorial candidacy of their fellow members Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim (LP) and Col. Ariel Querubin (NP). The group had also expressed support for Senator Francis Escudero’s presidential ambitions who later backed out of the race. The group boasts of many local chapters nationwide, and has been projecting the image of a silent but influential organization in terms of command votes among the military personnel and their families. Magdalo supporters delivered votes for Trillanes, who ran — and later won — as an independent senatorial candidate during the 2007 elections despite lack of campaign funds. - RJAB Jr/KBK, GMANews.TV