Kiko barred from oppos' secret balloting

Reelected Sen. Francis “Kiko" Pangilinan will likely remain an orphan even after the May polls where he ran as an independent candidate. Radio dzBB reported on Tuesday that Pangilinan will not join the opposition senators’ secret balloting where they will chose who to field as president of the upper chamber. Pangilinan, currently the Senate majority leader, admitted that some of the senators from the Genuine Opposition don’t want his presence in the secret balloting scheduled on Friday. DzBB said the senator did not take the issue personally and said that he would be contented playing the role of an observer. The same report said Pangilinan’s Liberal Party mates – Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III, Manuel “Mar" Roxas and Rodolfo Biazon - will participate in the balloting. DzBB said Pangilinan will support Manuel Villar Jr’s presidency. Meanwhile, the report said Aquino will likely vote for Aquilino “Nene" Pimentel. DzBB said Roxas might also choose Pimentel instead of Villar because the latter may be his rival in the 2010 presidential elections. - GMANews.TV