Lakas, NPC headed for split

Administration lawmakers warned yesterday that the alliance between the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats and the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) is in danger of breaking up due to growing suspicions that Malacañang, or at least a powerful faction in it, was behind last week’s Sandiganbayan decision.

The ruling — which stripped businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco of majority control of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) — could deal a powerful blow to his presidential ambitions, the lawmakers said.

NPC officials said the ruling, despite being a legal and corporate matter, has political ramifications that the party leadership will discuss during a special meeting they will hold this week.

Tarlac Rep. Gilberto Teodoro, Cojuangco’s nephew, said that while his uncle will address the matter through his lawyer, there is basis for suspicions that politics was behind the ruling, which reports said could also lead to Cojuangco losing the chairmanship of food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. UCPB owns a 25-percent stake in SMC.

"It depends on the evidence that we gather," Teodoro said in a phone interview, referring to a possible breakup of the Lakas-NPC alliance. "If we have enough evidence, reasonable evidence, then that can happen."

The NPC, founded by Cojuangco in 1992 when he ran for president, is allied with Lakas-CMD, the biggest party in the ruling coalition in the House of Representatives. The coalition includes Aksyon Demokratiko of former education secretary and presidential aspirant Raul Roco, the Liberal Party (LP), Nacionalista Party, PDP-Laban, Reporma, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, and Probinsya Muna Development Initiatives.

Manila Rep. Harry Angping (NPC) said there would be "significant developments" in the coming weeks because of the Sandiganbayan ruling and as Cojuangco wraps up his "listening tour" around the country to determine whether he would run or not.

"There will be political realignments in the coming weeks with Danding in the center," Angping said. "It’s going to be very exciting."

Teodoro said the NPC has always been very cooperative with Lakas in pushing the administration’s legislative agenda, noting that many of Malacanang’s priority bills have been passed by the House.

He dismissed statements by Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye that Cojuangco’s lawyers had all of 17 years to present their case on the ownership of the coco levy.

"They cannot claim that (Cojuangco did not present their case) and that is the severest form of double standard," Teodoro said. "The fact that the case has dragged on for years, that is grounds for dismissal four times over."

NPC president Faustino Dy said the party executive council will meet this week to discuss possible courses of action the party will take on the issue.

Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras, one of the Lakas congressmen pushing Cojuangco to run, said a faction in Lakas who wants President Arroyo to seek a full six-year term in the 2004 elections or even the President herself could be behind what could be the start of a demolition job against Cojuangco.

He said it is also possible a faction in Malacañang supporting the candidacy of Roco is behind the issuance of the ruling and recent reports of change in the House leadership.

He said the Presidential Commission on Good Government, which earlier questioned the Ginebra San Miguel commercials featuring Cojuangco, and the Sandiganbayan would not act without Malacañang’s blessings.

Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, another ally of Cojuangco in Lakas-CMD, warned of falling into "the trap of fighting out politically when the issue is only legal," saying the group out to destroy the alliance between the President and Cojuangco will always put political color in the ruling.

"She does not control the judiciary," Nograles said. "Danding should be given his day in court."

The Lakas-CMD on Friday brushed aside talk that the NPC will bolt from the People Power Coalition if Mrs. Arroyo changes her mind and joins the presidential race in 2004.

Not surprising

Lakas-CMD national spokesman Heherson Alvarez said there was "nothing surprising" about the pronouncement made by Bataan Gov. Leonardo Roman, who said the NPC would break away from the PPC to back the presidential candidacy of Cojuangco in the event that Mrs. Arroyo runs for president in 2004.

Alvarez said the country is moving towards a "parliamentary democracy" due to the existence of many political parties, as provided for under the 1987 Constitution.

"The coalition is a phenomenon in parliamentary politics because there are many parties. Parties merge into coalitions if they have a common agenda. The breakup, then, is just a natural process," Alvarez said.

He said it was normal that the Lakas-CMD and the NPC would part ways if both parties will have their own set of presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Roman, NPC chairman in Bataan province, said he was "96 percent" sure Cojuangco would run for president. He also said that if Mrs. Arroyo runs for president in the May 2004 elections, NPC’s breakaway from the ruling coalition will be inevitable.

Roman expressed hope that the President will stand by her Dec. 30, 2002 announcement that she will not seek the presidency in May.

He also said that while Mrs. Arroyo is learned in economic matters, she does not have the managerial capabilities to "lift us from the economic mess we are in."

Cojuangco is expected to announce his decision on a possible presidential bid by the last week of August or the first week of September.

Speaker Jose de Venecia had also called for a final summit between Cojuangco and Mrs. Arroyo to determine who will be the ruling coalition’s standard-bearer.

De Venecia said another meeting should be held between the President, Roco, and the leaders of the PPC and Aksyon Demokratiko, to strengthen the political alliance.

"We have to maintain two coalitions," he said, referring to the "Sunshine Coalition" in the House and the PPC.

In Ilagan, Isabela, NPC national chairman and Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy Jr. said the NPC’s existing alliance with Lakas-CMD has been limited only to the House of Representatives.

Dy also said the NPC has never been part of the PPC. "There’s no breakup to speak of because we were never allied with the PPC. Our alliance is only limited to the House."

The NPC is ready to field its own candidates for 2004, from the grassroots leaders all the way to the standard-bearer. "Everything is fluid at this point in time. Everything has yet to be decided, but we are ready to field our own candidates for the 2004 race."

He said the NPC is now the second biggest political party in the country, adding that NPC has the political machinery to slug it out with Lakas-CMD and the opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) come the 2004 polls.

Vice President and Lakas-CMD president Teofisto Guingona Jr. declined to comment on the matter when contacted by The STAR in Cebu, where he was meeting with local political leaders on the issue of his campaign against Charter change.

Guingona told media Wednesday he doubted the PPC would be able to field common candidates next year. He also said the ruling coalition may collapse "because it only causes a lot of tension" in the selection of candidates, particularly at the senatorial level.

The PPC was formed in 2001 by Mrs. Arroyo’s political allies after she assumed the presidency in the wake of former President Joseph Estrada’s ouster. The ruling coalition was formed to field common candidates in the 2001 local and congressional elections.

Presidential adviser on political affairs Jose Rufino predicted that the PPC would disintegrate if Mrs. Arroyo, Roco and Cojuangco run for president.

Cojuangco began a "listening tour" last week in an effort to get the people’s input on whether he should again seek the presidency.

His tour began last Monday in Bicol, Roco’s bailiwick. The second leg of Cojuangco’s tour took him to Bataan and he is set to visit Cagayan Valley next. He ran for president and lost in the 1992 elections.

There has been a perceived realignment of political forces as the President prepares to deliver her State of the Nation Address on July 28. She is expected to make a formal announcement then on whether or not she will run in 2004.