Noynoy open to working with FVR as defections rock Lakas-Kampi

LUCENA CITY, Quezon — As administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD party staggers due to defections, Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III said he is open to a working relationship with former President Fidel Ramos (FVR) but is wary of entering into a coalition with former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. Aquino said that while he would welcome Ramos’ help especially in improving tax collection efficiency, he is wary of De Venecia’s track record of "rainbow" and "sunshine" political coalitions, which he said had been based on personalities. FVR and De Venecia are co-founders of Lakas-Christian Democrats (CMD) party, which later merged with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (Kampi). “Tulad ni FVR, ang ating tax collection efficiency was at its peak during his presidency. Perhaps he can assist us in doing the same especially since President Arroyo allowed it to go down to about 6 percentage points a very substantial drop given the fact it was previously 18," he said at a press conference in Quezon province late Friday. But he also told Ramos not to meddle in his administration. Aquino said it is he as president, and his vice president, who should take the lead in setting government policy. He said the same would apply to De Venecia should he enter into a coalition under an Aquino administration. “I assume we will be in the lead role in determining the agenda. And if they can accept our agenda there is that possibility," he said, pointing out neither Ramos nor De Venecia are running for president this year. On the other hand, he said that while he wants everyone to unite behind him in unifying the country, he is wary of De Venecia’s various coalitions. “Bottom line sa amin, we want to transcend politics on a personal nature, ang personality-based politics, it has to be kabuuan ng bansa ang importante. So nagmumula yan sa platform, ang platform ba nila platform namin (The bottom line is that we want our politics to be platform-based instead of personality-based. If they want to coalesce with us, are their platforms the same as ours)?" he said. He added he does not want to coalesce with De Venecia only to fight him later down the line. — LBG, GMANews.TV