Villar will be NP standard bearer in 2010 elections

MANILA, Philippines – The Nacionalista Party, the Philippines’ oldest political party, will have former Senate President Manny Villar as standard bearer in the 2010 presidential elections – and the party is ready to field a full slate, down to the last councilor. Former Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, NP spokesperson, told GMANews.TV in a phone interview on Saturday that the party was 90 percent prepared to field Villar as their standard bearer, but it's still searching for Villar’s running-mate. "Wala pang VP [vice president]. Naghahanap pa. Pero we will field a full slate up to last councilor," Remulla stressed. ["We still have no VP. We're still looking. But we will field a full slate up to the last councilor."] Remulla himself is being considered in NP’s 12-man senatorial slate, along with reelectionist Sen. Pia Cayetano, Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto "TG" Guingona, Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico, former Sen. Agapito “Butch" Aquino, Parañaque Rep. Eduardo Zialcita, and San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora. "May mga madadagdag [in the senatorial list] dahil may mga negosasyon mula sa ibang grupo. Baka may makasama sa progressive group," Remulla added. ["Some names will be added to the senatorial list because we're negotiating with other groups. Maybe someone from the progressive group will be included."] Remulla also said that party members were not bothered in the scheduled Senate Ethics Committee investigation to be headed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson against Villar regarding the C-5 road funding mess. "The public knows naman na it will be an investigation in aid of politics, personal persecution, and personal interest. Mga presidentiables ang nandyan. Natural pagtulungan nila si Senator Villar. Pero nakita namin na hindi pinaniwalaan ng mga tao yung mga unang demolition job na ginawa kay Senator Villar," he said. ["The public knows that it will be an investigation in aid of politics, personal persecution, and personal interest. There will be presidentiables at the hearing. It's only natural that they will gang up on Senator Villar. But we've realized that people won't believe the earlier demolition job that they did on Senator Villar."] Aside from Lacson, other members of the Senate Ethics Committee are Senators Manuel Roxas II, Loren Legarda, and Richard Gordon. Sen. Gregorio Honasan, another committee member, had earlier aired his worry that the integrity of the committee and the Senate as an institution could be questioned because of the composition of the panel – with four "presidentiables" investigating their possible opponent in the 2010 elections. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.Tv