EXECUTIVE Secretary Eduardo Ermita said apart from Senator Loren Legarda, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD is eyeing two actors turned politicians and a Cabinet secretary as the possible running mate of their standard bearer Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

Ermita said the three men in the shortlist for the vice president are Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), and Lakas-Kampi's Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. and resigned Optical Media Board chairman Edu Manzano.

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The Lakas-Kampi president denied that the three are "last resort" in case the Teodoro-Legarda tandem does not push through, stressing that they are part of the shortlist.

"There are choices... A lot are qualified. That's what I'm saying. It's not a matter of somebody is last resort. That's basically it. Politics is personal interest. Once a person wants something, he or she must think about it well and must not be sensitive that he or she is last resort," said Ermita.

Ermita declined to say why Manzano and Durano were among those in the list, but cited that for Revilla has the experience being a former vice governor and later governor of Cavite and now a senator.

Durano, prior to being President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's tourism secretary was a congressman of Cebu, while Manzano apart from being a television host and former OMB chairman was a former vice mayor of Makati.

But Manzano has been rumored to be included in the senatorial line up of former President Joseph Estrada's while Durano and Revilla were earlier reported to be included in the senatorial line up of the administration.

One week to decide

The administration party has exactly one week to decide on who would be the running mate of Teodoro.

Ermita said Wednesday that everything should be all prepared before their executive committee meeting on November 11 so that they could draft the major agenda for their national convention on November 19.

"There is got to be major decisions that may have to be reached before November 11 because how can we draft our major agenda for national convention if there is nothing final by November 11?," he said.

Ermita denied that the ruling party is having difficulty in choosing the running mate of Teodoro. Instead he said they are just being prudent in choosing the most qualified candidate.

"We are not having difficulties...we have a lot...in the field, there are a lot of people that will suffice and that can qualify to run for vice president. So it's not really that difficult, we're just being very, very prudent and very careful in choosing one," he said.

"Every time you make a move, you make a decision, there's got to be some assessment in the party's position, the position of our presidential candidate as well as how the other personalities are situated," he added.

The official said they are not closing their doors to Legarda, adding that they are even serious with forging coalition with the NPC if the senator decides to be Teodoro's running mate.

Forging coalition

"The administration party is very serious in forging such coalition with a party such as the NPC. That's why when asked at what level is the talk going on, it is almost saying that it's almost next to the highest level," he said, adding that talks will be very significant since NPC is the second biggest party.

He said the party's executive director Gabby Claudio is continuously communicating with the leadership of NPC regarding the coalition.

"Senator Legarda is also an astute politician-she knows where she stands, she knows how she stands right now among the vice presidentiables, she knows she's being sought after, and therefore I'm sure she's going to make an intelligent move," Ermita said.

Asked if joining the administration would be an intelligent move to make, "If she thinks that it is the correct thing to do and that would bring her to victory, I think that would be an intelligent decision."

Senator Legarda left the administration party in 2003 to join the opposition and run as the running mate of late Fernando Poe Jr. under Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino. She has been tagged as "political butterfly" flying from one party to another.

'Political butterfly'

For Ermita, this (being "political butterfly") does not matter to the party as they see the qualifications in Loren.

"She's among those viable candidates given her present position, advocacies, the activities she's been engaged and continues to engage in and we believe that they (Teodoro and Legarda) will complement each other, she has qualifications," he said.

Asked if this mean they have forgiven Legarda for leaving the party, Ermita said: "You might say that...there's nothing personal about it, there's nothing personal."

In the matter of disloyalty, Ermita said advocacy is more important than on which party one candidate is loyal to.

"Public officials have a lot of responsibilities and when you get elected to a position, you just have to be conscious that governance means looking after the welfare for the general well-being of the people and that is a very general statement. It is to the general well-being if you are a senator, congressman, senator for you to look after the health and welfare of our people," he said. (Jill Beltran/With JMR/Sunnex)