Villar wants ‘mega’ Pangilinan to join NP
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:13:00 01/31/2008
Filed Under: Politics
MANILA, Philippines -- Noting how Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan could easily fill up the Araneta Coliseum with his “Mega” crowd-drawing power, Senate President Manuel Villar Wednesday invited his Wednesday Club colleague to join him in the Nacionalista Party.
Villar made the offer after Pangilinan was replaced as chair of the Liberal Party on Tuesday in a leadership shakeup reportedly stemming from his rift with the LP president, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.
“I have always told him that our doors at the Nacionalista Party are always open for him if he feels that he is not wanted anymore in his party,” Villar said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a day after the LP named former Sen. Franklin Drilon as its new chair.
“He will be a great addition to our party because (LP’s) Pangilinan wing is the only one that can fill up the Araneta Coliseum because he is ‘Mega,’” Villar said, alluding to Pangilinan’s wife, show biz megastar Sharon Cuneta.
Villar said he had long been telling Pangilinan his impression that the LP is a “monarchy.”
LP is a monarchy
“The Liberal Party is just Mar Roxas and Noynoy (Sen. Benigno Aquino III), and what they want they will always get. They are a monarchy and you (Pangilinan) are just a commoner,” said Villar, recalling his constant advice to Pangilinan.
Reached for comment, Pangilinan said in a text message: “If this is an invitation to join the (NP), I say thank you but I have to politely decline as I intend to stay on as a member of the Liberal Party.
“We may have differences within the LP but these differences are not enough reason for me to leave,” he said.
Told of Villar’s invitation to Pangilinan, Roxas maintained that “this is an internal party matter and I don’t think the Senate President should comment on it as a matter of inter-party courtesy.”
“We don’t comment on how the NP is run or on any of its internal affairs. We should practice institutional decorum and mutual respect,” Roxas said.
“Kiko has his own opinion about the direction of the LP and as a full-fledged party member, he has always been welcome to express his views openly and have them considered democratically,” Roxas added.
Pangilinan served as LP chair since November 2006 after Environment Secretary Lito Atienza formed a breakaway group composed of members allied with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
In a statement Wednesday, Atienza criticized Roxas’ appointment of Drilon as “detrimental” to efforts to unite the fractured party. Roxas had reportedly been given blanket authority as party president to appoint or remove LP officials.
Stepped down, not replaced
Pangilinan on Tuesday maintained that he had stepped down -- was not replaced -- as LP chair because he did not agree with Roxas’ decision to align the party with opposition forces identified with deposed president and pardoned plunderer Joseph Estrada.
Earlier in a statement, Roxas said the LP continues to value Pangilinan as “an important part of the party and ... a part of the leadership team.”
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