ROXAS SAYS NO PLANS TO RUN IN '16
MANILA, APRIL 16, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Christine O. Avendaño, Gil C.
Cabacungan - It may be true that Vice President Jejomar Binay really supports
President Aquino and that the President finds Binay really cool as his No. 2.
But that is today. They have been serving barely two years and there is
nothing to gore each other about in running the state.
Give it some time, though, and the two will go separate ways. That's in the
stars.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigal Valte explained the "inevitable"
split in an interview on dzBB radio on Sunday.
Valte pointed out that the President and the Vice President belong to
different political parties with different platforms of government.
As such, they differ in their understanding of the country's numerous
problems and approaches to dealing with these ills that both of them have sworn
to solve.
Having been elected, however, both are working together and so far have not
found their differing political ideals making harmony impossible for them.
Inevitably, however, the two will part ways over politics, Valte said, but
did not offer a time frame within which the rapture will occur.
That may be sooner than expected, as Binay, though swearing support for the
President, has been openly preparing to replace him in Malacañang in 2016.
Not because as vice president, he will be the President's candidate for the
Palace—that's Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas, president of Mr. Aquino's
Liberal Party (LP) and his vice presidential running mate in 2010.
Binay will run against Roxas, which means he must break away from Mr.
Aquino's administration.
In preparation for that run, Binay has brought his Partido Demokratiko
Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party into a coalition with the Puwersa ng
Masang Pilipino (PMP) party of former President Joseph Estrada. The coalition is
called the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), now moving fast to capture
electable candidates for its congressional and local tickets in next year's
midterm elections.
Too early
The Liberal Party says the UNA is positioning too early, but it is quietly
looking around for alliances to put together dominant tickets for both the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
The 2013 midterms will be a preview of the general election in 2016. The
results can show which candidate is most likely to end up as the new Malacañang
tenant in 2016.
At least two major political parties have reported being approached by
representatives from the PDP-Laban and the Liberal Party about an alliance for
next year's midterms.
The Nacionalista Party (NP) and the National Unity Party (NUP) said the
overtures came with rival demands for support for Binay and Roxas in the race
for Malacañang in 2016.
Alliance efforts
NP Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla of Cavite, deputy speaker of the House of
Representatives, and NUP Rep. Antonio Alvarez of Palawan both confirmed efforts
by both the PDP-Laban and the Liberals to strike alliances for next year's
elections but on condition that they commit to support Binay and Roxas in 2016.
"They are turning the 2013 elections into a proxy fight for the 2016
presidential elections where Binay and Roxas are likely to run for the
presidency," Remulla told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
"What they are saying basically is that if you are not with us then you are
against us. I think that is too drastic a demand for a political alliance when
we should only be looking at 2013 and not 2016," Remulla said. "A lot of things
can change in the next four years."
"Even a month is an eternity in Philippine politics," Alvarez said in a text
message to the Inquirer.
"The basis of any alignment should not be one who's popular or the one with
the most followers. There are more important factors to be considered in
coalition building," he said.
Program of gov't
"The most important, trite as it may sound, is the program of government," he
said.
Alvarez said it was "unproductive and premature" for both the PDP-Laban and
the LP to talk about Mr. Aquino's successor now when the Chief Executive still
has four years left on his term.
"The parties should just focus on the job at hand. There are so many problems
confronting the nation," Alvarez said.
Remulla said the political parties' main focus should first be on the outcome
of the Senate trial of the impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.
"The voting results could well dictate the theme or mood of the elections,"
Remulla said.
Both the NP and the NUP have offered themselves as sanctuary for candidates
not wanting to make a stand for the 2016 elections and the two parties have made
exploratory talks for an alliance to form a third force.
The NP under Sen. Manuel Villar, who lost the 2010 presidential election,
continues to have a major presence in the Senate with Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
and the Cayetano siblings as allies.
The NUP, a political party formed a few months after the 2010 elections by
former Lakas-Kampi members who did not want to be identified with the Arroyo
administration, has less than 40 members in the House, but is a key member of
the administration coalition.
Both parties control a significant number of governors and mayors nationwide
whose support could provide the winning margin in the elections.
Both PDP-Laban and LP camps have started the 2016 presidential campaign this
early by soliciting support for either Binay or Roxas from representatives,
governors and mayors in exchange for backing their reelection or their
handpicked successors in the 2013 elections.
Those who refuse face the prospect of having a rival backed by either
PDP-Laban or LP in the elections.
Mar Roxas: No plans to run in 2016 By Nestor P.
Burgos Jr. Inquirer Visayas 2:20 am | Monday, April 16th, 2012
Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas (photo), president of the
ruling Liberal Party, said over the weekend he had no plans of running for
president in 2016.
"I can honestly, sincerely, absolutely, transparently tell you that I have no
plans," said Roxas, when asked by the Inquirer if he would run for president in
2016 on the sidelines of the Capiztahan festival in Roxas City Saturday.
But he added that he was at his party's "disposal."
Roxas is widely assumed to be the next standard-bearer of the LP. Roxas
dropped his presidential ambitions in 2010 to give way to then Sen. Benigno
Aquino III, running instead as the LP's vice presidential bet.
But while
Mr. Aquino emerged victorious, Roxas lost to Binay—a surprise winner in that
race.
On the possibility that he and Binay may yet find themselves in the same
political coalition, Roxas did not give a categorical answer. He stressed that
any coalition that his party would consider should be "premised on party
principles."
"Hindi ito (this is not) a politics of convenience. We are not a political
party na chaleco lang na suot-hubad (like a vest that can be easily put on or
taken off)," said Roxas.
"It's on that basis that we consider others either in a coalition or entry to
the party," Roxas said.
President Aquino last week said the LP was open to forging coalitions with
other parties.
He did not rule out an alliance with UNA, a coalition of Binay's PDP-Laban
and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino led by Joseph Estrada, his closest rival in
the 2010 polls.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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