Ilocos Sur leaders still unsure of supporting Gibo, Chavit claims

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur - Former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson on Friday claimed that he and other local leaders in the province were still unsure of supporting administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilberto "Gibo" Tedoro Jr. Singson, who belongs to the same party as Teodoro, said his camp is still deciding who among the presidential bets they will back. "Wala pang masabing consensus kung sino ang gusto naming susuportahan. Hindi pa sigurado kay Gibo dahil in the process pa kami [ng pagpili] ng mga leaders. We’ll come out openly by March kung susuportahan [si Gibo]," said Singson in an interview with GMA News and GMANews.TV. (There is still no consensus on whom we will support. We are still not sure with Gibo because the leaders are still in the process of choosing. We’ll come out openly by March on whether we will support Gibo.) Reached for comment, Teodoro's spokesperson Mike Toledo said he hasn't seen any statement yet from leaders of this province "From what I understand, Governor (Deogracias Victor) Savellana and some government officials from the north have already categorically stated that they were solid for Gibo," Toledo told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. Asked if Chavit's support matters to Teodoro's candidacy, he said: "Politics is always addition. Mahalaga ang suporta ni Chavit (Chavit's support is important) as well as the other leaders from Ilocos." Singson's clout in this province cannot be ignored, primarily because he served as governor on a number of times: 1971–1972; 1980–1986; 1992–2001; 2004–2007. He also was former congressman in the province's first district from 1987 to 1992. No automatic transfer of votes In the same interview, Singson said that he and Teodoro may be partymates, but it does not automatically translate to votes for the latter. Teodoro visited Ilocos Sur on Thursday, but Singson said they did not meet. On Friday, Teodoro went to Ilocos Norte, a stronghold of the Marcoses. Teodoro’s uncle, Eduardo “Danding" Cojuangco Jr. is widely perceived as a Marcos crony. Former President Joseph Estrada also visited Ilocos Sur on Friday. Even if he and Singson were in this city, they did not cross paths. Estrada and Singson were erstwhile allies, but they had a falling out since 2000 after the latter implicated the former in alleged jueteng activities. The allegations eventually led to Estrada's downfall in January 2001. The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found Estrada guilty of plunder in September 2007, but President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned him a month later. Singson ran for senator under the administration ticket in 2007, but he lost. He was then appointed deputy national security adviser in September 2008. - RSJ, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV