Gibo, not Noynoy, topped House survey – Nograles

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Prospero Nograles disputed yesterday the results of an “informal survey” supposedly showing that Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is the top choice among House members for the presidency.

Nograles said that as Speaker, he talks to many of his colleagues everyday and that majority of them support the presidential candidacy of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr.

He said this is not surprising since the House of Representatives is dominated by the ruling Lakas-Kampi.

Aquino is standard-bearer of the Liberal Party in the May 2010 elections, while his second cousin Teodoro will run under Lakas-Kampi.

On Thursday, Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco of the administration Lakas-Kampi told a Quezon City news forum that a series of informal talks he had with about 200 of his colleagues showed that half of them preferred Aquino, while the rest were split between Teodoro and Sen. Manuel Villar Jr.

“Cong. Cuenco has been with the yellow movement since 1985, and maybe, that’s his emotional sentiment. I am sure the other Cebu congressmen do not feel like he does,” he said. Yellow is associated with the Aquinos.

Rep. Florencio “Bem” Noel of the party-list group An Waray claimed no knowledge of such survey.

“Had I been asked, I would have told them that I prefer Sen. Chiz (Francis) Escudero,” he said.

Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez, also of Lakas-Kampi, said Cuenco might have resorted to trending to project a strong Aquino candidacy.

“Trending is the oldest trick in the campaign book. It is expected for a camp to say it’s getting more recruits in order to start a bandwagon,” he said.

He said since Cuenco himself admitted that his survey was not scientific, it could not have been an “exact gauge of voting preferences among House members.”

Alvarez also expressed doubts on whether Cuenco had indeed talked to 200 congressmen and congresswomen.

He said assembling that number in one afternoon session “would be next to impossible because that would involve counting the phantoms of the Kamara.”

He noted that lately, the House “has been struck with its old-age sickness of quorum lack.”

Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, another Lakas-Kampi member, voiced the same belief.

“With due respect to Cong. Cuenco, I doubt the results of his survey because he never gave a survey form or asked us personally who we wanted,” she said.

“With quorum problems plaguing the House, I don’t think the plenary can even muster 130 congressmen. It’s a good publicity gimmick for Noynoy but not at our expense,” she said.

Magsaysay added that she could not believe that only 50 House members expressed preference for Teodoro in Cuenco’s informal survey.

She pointed out that at least 92 members of the chamber have signed a manifesto endorsing Teodoro’s presidential bid.

Admonition

Cuenco’s partymates admonished him for his “informal survey.”

“It was rather inappropriate of him to have done that as a member of the party without firm, scientific and objective basis,” Gabriel Claudio, Lakas-Kampi secretary general and Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs, said in a phone interview.

“It’s only appropriate for Congressman Cuenco to identify what kind of survey was conducted. Was it scientific? How many took the survey?” Claudio asked.

Claudio noted that close to 100 congressmen had already openly declared their support for Teodoro and even put this down in writing.

“I think he owes his colleagues and the party an explanation,” he said of Cuenco.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Gary Olivar also belittled Cuenco’s survey.

“We should certainly not read any kind of trends into it. But I don’t think there was any intention on the part of Congressmen Cuenco to come up with any kind of trend,” Olivar said.

Realignment not exodus

Senior administration lawmakers meanwhile debunked observations that Aquino’s foray into the presidential race will trigger an exodus from the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party.

House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Simeon Datumanong and Palawan’s Alvarez acknowledged there would be realignments, but no mass defections to the opposition Liberal Party of Aquino.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo’s declaration of support for Aquino has spawned speculations that the ruling party was crumbling.

“Lakas-Kampi is as strong as before. Our party remains united and its members fired up as before,” Alvarez, a Lakas-Kampi spokesman, said.

He said Teodoro is the “political force to reckon with” in the May 2010 elections.

“We are confident that Gibo’s track record and agenda will have enough persuasive effects on the people,” he pointed out.

“Lakas-Kampi-CMD is the biggest and strongest political group, and any talk of any one moving to the other group as of now is still mere speculation highlighted by the opposition. We will make our rightful reply at the proper time,” Datumanong said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, interim president of Lakas-Kampi, said Teodoro’s standing has improved significantly since party leaders’ announcement of their preference for the defense chief as the administration standard bearer.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said her support for Teodoro is unquestionable because it’s “the kind of discipline I have.”

“We are in a party, so we support whoever is chosen by the party,” she told reporters. But she stressed she wouldn’t fault Romulo for his decision.

“He (Romulo) has his own views and we have to respect him,” she said.

Devanadera served as Lakas executive director from June 1998 to August 2000. She was mayor of Sampaloc, Quezon from 1988 to 1997. –Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) with Marvin Sy, Delon Porcalla and Edu Punay