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Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Lakas, NPC leaders put off pact anew
By Karen M. Flores
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
LAKAS-CMD and NPC leaders decided yesterday to postpone a second time the scheduled signing this morning of a covenant formalizing their nationwide alliance for the May 10, 2004 elections.
Rep. Ace Durano (Cebu, 5th district), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) secretary general, said leaders of both parties met yesterday afternoon in Congress.
They decided to revert to the original plan to put off the signing supposedly at Malacañang until they iron out “contentious issues” in the local level, particularly those in problem areas like Cebu.
This time, however, he said it was decided that they come up with the “final list of the coalition ticket from the highest national position down to the lowest local seat” before the signing is scheduled again.
A free zone in the local level is not an option as this will be disadvantageous to both parties, Durano said in a phone interview.
Campaign start
The congressman said they are giving themselves until the start of the campaign period to sign the long-postponed covenant which was to have been first formalized in Cebu last week during President Arroyo’s visit here.
In the meantime, he said leaders of both parties will consult members on their proposed line-up and in Lakas-Cebu’s case, resolve issues within the party.
Conflicts will be brought to the negotiating panel in Manila for resolution.
The panel consists of the following: House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio and Lakas Secretary General Hernando Perez for Lakas; and Durano, NPC Chairman Faustino Dy Jr. and NPC President Frisco San Juan.
No more obstacles
Durano said this is “to make sure that there are no further obstacles in the coalition” when it is finally put on paper.
Once an understanding is reached, he said the leadership of both parties will be held responsible for “imposing” the coalition on its members and “convincing” them to toe the line.
Gov. Pablo Garcia, who was “vehemently opposed” to the coalition in the local level as proposed last week, was ready to attend this morning’s gathering with the other Lakas and NPC governors, congressmen and city mayors who were invited.
He is unsure, however, about the implication of such coalition on him and the local Lakas members. “I still have to see what’s in it for me,” he said in his news conference yesterday.
But in an earlier interview, Durano emphasized that a coalition signed in Manila will be “binding on all members of both parties in the entire country.”
(December 16, 2003 issue)
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