NACIONALISTA Party (NP) vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda will attend two major rallies of One Cebu next week but Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will not yet confirm if she is the party’s choice.
On top of that, Legarda informed Capitol beat reporters yesterday that Garcia’s daughter, lawyer Christina Codilla-Frasco, is her spokesperson in the Visayas.
The governor’s niece, Esperanza, daughter of Government Service Insurance System president and general manager Winston Garcia, is also in Legarda’s team, working on her climate change campaign.
But the governor remained mum on One Cebu’s vice presidential candidate, saying the party will formally announce their choice on March 27, during the launch of the headquarters of congressional candidate Luigi Quisumbing in the Norkis Compound, Mandaue City.
Legarda confirmed she will attend the activity, as well as the rally on March 26 in Argao town.
Aside from its vice presidential candidate, the choices for the Senate, picked from different parties, will also be presented by One Cebu on March 27.
Garcia said the party may leave two spots empty to give the mayors the discretion to choose whom they will support.
Her condition is for them to support the ideals of One Cebu and “the Cebu agenda.”
As for Legar-da, the governor said the senator always finds time to visit her every time she is in Cebu. Legarda was one of the principal sponsors of her daughter’s wedding to Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco last year.
As to reports that some mayors prefer Jejomar Binay for vice president, Garcia said once the party will name its bet, it is expected that all party members will follow.
However, she said Legarda is welcome to join the events.
Legarda, in an interview at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, said she does not want to presume that One Cebu will endorse her but she said she “needs and is praying for” the support of Garcia and One Cebu.
“She (Garcia) will be the swing vote in the 2010 elections,” Legarda said, with the governor’s daughter sitting by her side.
Christina, for her part, said her mother “is aware and is very supportive” of her volunteer work for Legarda. She and Esperanza are hoping that Legarda will be the choice.
Christina said she is supporting Legarda because the senator shares her advocacies on the protection of the rights of women and children.
The governor’s daughter said Legarda, who did not yet know who she was, spoke on her behalf when she was punched by a Japanese national at the Manila airport in 2008.
They then became friends and Legarda served as one of her wedding sponsors. Christina and Esperanza attended Legarda’s lunch with the local media yesterday.
Earlier in the day, Legarda spent time with sidewalk vendors, tricycle drivers and market stallholders at the Talisay Public Market.
The crowd mobbed her right after she got off from a black sports utility vehicle beneath the Tabunok flyover.
As running mate of Sen. Manny Villar, NP standard-bearer, the senator said she felt reassured by the fact that the NP enjoys the political backing of Rep. Eduardo R. Gullas (Cebu, 1st district).
The local Alayon party under Gullas has forged an alliance with Villar’s NP.
Local supporters carried huge banners and flags bearing Legarda’s name and photo in welcoming the senator, who arrived an hour late for her 10 a.m. scheduled visit.
Among Legarda’s supporters were barangay health workers (BHWs) headed by 62-year-old Ermelinda Abadiano of Barangay Pardo, Cebu City.
Abadiano, president of the National Confederation of BHWs of the Philippines, said majority of over the 300,000 BHWs nationwide are supporting Legarda’s vice presidential bid.
“We support her because of her being the chairperson for health in the Senate. She’s really a big help to us BHWs,” she said.
Abadiano called on all local governments to fully implement Republic Act 7883, the law that gives benefits and incentives to BHWs.