by Christine F. Herrera
THE ruling Lakas-Kampi- CMD will field President Arroyo as the next speaker of the House, confirming opposition fears that she would take this route to hold on to political power.
“There is no doubt President Arroyo will still be a force to reckon with once she is elected as representative of the 2nd District of Pampanga,†said Lakas-Kampi-CMD stalwart and Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III.
“We are going to field her as Speaker and she has a big chance to be the House Speaker of the 15th Congress.â€
Added party spokesman and Agusan del Norte Rep. Jose Aquino: “If her detractors think they have seen the last of her, then they are wrong.â€
Albano said Mrs. Arroyo would be a shoo-in for the speakership because the majority of the lawmakers to be elected in May would come from the ruling party, with more than 100 incumbent congressmen running for re-election.
Some were running unopposed, while others faced only token opposition, he said.
Their numbers would also be bolstered by some of Mrs. Arroyo’s Cabinet members, who were also running for Congress.
Aquino said Lakas-Kampi- CMD was still the biggest political party in the House, overshadowing the Nacionalista and the Liberal parties.
In November, Mrs. Arroyo announced she would run for a congressional seat in Pampanga, saying this would enable her to serve people “from a position that is closer to them.â€
Responding to critics who said she would use the speakership to amend the Constitution and push for a parliamentary form of government, Mrs. Arroyo said: “That situation is so hypothetical I won’t even bother to speculate about it.â€
Party officials over the weekend said they were confident that their standard bearer, former defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr., would gain the upper hand in actual voting despite his poor showing in public opinion surveys.
Lakas-Kampi-CMD spokesman Mike Toledo said the ruling party’s strong machinery nationwide would help Teodoro win the presidency by giving him a “built-in 15 percent advantage.â€
The ruling party had fielded 170 candidates for Congress in the May elections, or 73.9 percent of the more than 230 available House seats. The party had also fielded 64 candidates for governor or 80 percent of the 86 gubernatorial seats, Toledo said.
By contrast, other parties had failed to field candidates in most of the congressional and local government races, Toledo said.
He dismissed talk that the Palace was secretly backing Nacionalista standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr.
“The so-called unholy alliance between Villar and Malacañang is a figment of some people’s imagination,†he said. “There is no such thing.†With Fel V. Maragay
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