No commitment of support from Danding despite Aquino camp's attempts

SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte — Despite attempts to get his support, business tycoon Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. has not made any commitment to back the presidential bid of his nephew Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino. "Nakausap namin (We had talked to him). "Hindi kami nagkapag-usap after that (But we have not talked to him since)," Noynoy told reporters at a press briefing late Thursday night. On Wednesday, Noynoy's sister Kris – who has endorsed products of the Cojuangco-owned San Miguel Corp. – said she has personally tried to win the support of her uncle but he has not pledged anything yet. [See: Kris hoping for Danding support for Noynoy] While Danding has kept silent about the issue, his wife Gretchen had said she was open to supporting "anybody but Gibo," referring to administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. Teodoro, whose mother Mercedes is Danding's sister, had left Danding's Nationalist People's Coalition and joined the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, which eventually chose him as its standard bearer. Danding, listed by Forbes as the 7th richest man in the Philippines in 2009, had a strained relationship with Noynoy and Kris' parents — the martyred senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon "Cory" Aquino — during the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos' rule. Danding was believed to be in the good graces of Marcos, who was Ninoy's political rival. Cory replaced Marcos when he was ousted through a popular uprising in 1986. Noynoy said he was very thankful for the support of Danding's daughter, Lisa Cojuangco-Cruz, who joined Kris in Iloilo on Thursday to campaign for him and his running mate Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II. "Tayo nagpapasalamat. Nagkaroon ng alitan sa pamilyang Cojuangco 1965 pa (We are thankful. The Cojuangco family had conflicts as early as 1965)," he said, adding that he was able to talk to Lisa only when his mother Cory passed away last August, while he only got to interact with Danding's other children, Mark and Charlie, during their stints in the House of Representatives. Danding may not have committed his support, but it was evident in the local level that his bets in the NPC are not allied with Senator Manuel Villar Jr.'s Nacionalista Party even though Villar's running mate is the NPC's Senator Loren Legarda, said Roxas in the same press briefing Thursday. "Sa local mas maraming NP at NPC na nagkakatunggali kesa NPC at LP (In the local level there are more NP bets going against NPC bets compared to NPC versus LP)," Roxas said, saying this was the case in Dumaguete City, Davao del Sur and South Cotabato. "Di namin nakitang sinsero o mgkatotoo ang supposed coalition ng NP at NPC dahil sa local ang magkatunggali e NP at NPC," Roxas added. — Johanna Camille Sisante/LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV