THE administration party is ready to welcome back Senator Loren Legarda once she decides to become the running mate of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro in an alliance with the opposition Nationalist Peoples’ Coalition, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday.
Ermita, interim president of the ruling Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats, said Legarda’s decision to jump ship in 2004 to run as the vice president of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. was now “water under the bridge.”
But he stressed that the administration was not without viable vice presidential bets within the party, naming Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, and former Optical Media Board Chairman Edu Manzano as those in the shortlist of Teodoro’s running mate.
“Definitely, we would welcome her,” Ermita said.
“You might call her a prodigal daughter, but the thing is, she is an original member of the original Lakas-CMD party and she is also the most viable among those who want to run for vice president.”
Legarda is also being wooed by the camp of Senator and presidential candidate Manuel Villar, and Ermita said her credentials and advocacy of the environment would complement Teodoro’s own.
“She is also an astute politician and she knows where she stands. She knows she is being sought after and I am sure she will make an intelligent move,” he said.
Informal talks for a coalition between the Lakas-Kampi CMD and NPC have started, but the NPC’s leaders have asked for more time to regroup following the resignation of Senator Francis Escudero, their presidential bet.
Ermita said major decisions would have to be made on Nov. 11 during the executive committee meeting of the Lakas-Kampi CMD to prepare for its national convention on Nov. 19. Joyce Pangco Pañares
