Elections

De Castro could be Lakas-Kampi bet

If the current situation holds, then Vice President De Castro has the edge over the other political personalities looking to snag the party nomination. The Vice President’s consistent rating in many surveys is his main argument why he should be the party’s chosen candidate. After all, the ‘winnability’ of one candidate is always considered as the major factor in the selection of the candidate. Even Prospero Pichay, the Lakas vice president for membership says that the ‘winnability’ of one candidate is what the party seeks. De Castro now carries an edge over other interested personalities within the party like Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando.

Senator Joker Arroyo holds a similar view that De Castro could be the party’s best for next year’s presidential elections. In the senator’s view, De Castro is the viable candidate for the administration and even though the vice president is being hampered by finances still he has the chance to score the nomination. He is always at the top or near the top of all surveys. Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on the other hand thinks that in the party’s search for the standard bearer, it is Teodoro who holds the edge. Secretary Puno is supportive of De Castro but said that Teodoro has the edge since the Secretary has made friends in the party back in the days when he was still a representative of Tarlac. And in the view of Secretary Puno, Vice President De Castro has not bonded well with party members the way Teodoro bonded with the party members. The reason for this is that De Castro has maintained his independence even though he is a member of the party.

In order to facilitate the selection of the party’s standard bearer, the party will create a short list of personalities and will also put forward some criteria that can be used in its party selection set on July 31. Lakas-Kampi President Eduardo Ermita said that the party members will be given preferences, but open as well to personalities who will coalesce with the party. And of course, the selection process will also take into account the input of the chair- the President.