ARTICLE SERVICES            Reprint this article     Print this article       Send as an e-mail     Send Feedback       Post a comment     Too much information? The buzz started last night with a Manila Bulletin article on the President checking into the Asian Hospital in Alabang for some cosmetic procedures. Take a look at a scr ...More 50% of flu victims in their teens, pre-teens CBCP happy with poll automation development De Castro unveils good governance agenda Prayer power for Aquino spreads to Internet CBCP head favors partial poll automation Automation firms say machines 100% accurate Hundreds of Moro rebels slain—military More Stories » News Make sure doors are locked when in cab Petty politics in Tacloban City Prayers sought for ailing Cory Aquino Vizcaya town gets taste of good governance Solon: P500-M demand did it Bernard Madoff gets 150 years in prison BoC to computerize valuation of customs goods DepEd owes GSIS P21.3 B Phase out PCBs by 2014 urged 50 journalists in Maguindanao held, freed News Ateneo student attacked by fellow students Caramoan lures more ‘castaways’ from Israel Blast near cathedral kills 5, wounds 35 Palace makes a clean breast of Arroyo implant Estrada backs mayor in fight vs Arroyo son ‘AFP broke the law when it jailed reporters’ Arroyo doesn’t care for soldiers ‘Dream’ polls promised Maxene files fraud raps vs aide She’s Everyone with lots of humor PAG-IBIG issues ultimatum to employers Cops mull demolition of Quiapo shanties   News Most Read RSS Fotoloco Rent Fotoloco for your parties! Call 453.3417 / (0917) 851.0228 Wally Gonzales Photography Look for: Arlene Lacea Tel.No.: 890.5524 or 890.1318 Mobile: 0917.8492559

NAGA CITY, Philippines—Talks of merger between the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) and Lakas, as supposedly offered by former President Fidel Ramos is a very early proposition that will not immediately materialize, Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero, the former secretary general of NPC, said Saturday.

Escudero said that the 2010 presidential election is two years away and that whatever decisions politicians and parties make right now regarding merger will change as the election draws nearer.

Speaking in Bicol in a press conference here, the senator expressed his appreciation to Ramos for the "trust and confidence" he gave to the NPC for making the merger offer, which, he said, would be discussed by the leadership of their party.

Escudero joined NPC when he entered politics in 1998.

Turning 40 on Oct. 10, 2010, Escudero brushed aside talk of his presidential ambitions, saying he would not yet be qualified to run when the presidential elections take place in May, two years from now.

Escudero said the constitutional age requirement of 40 years old for candidates running for presidential and vice presidential positions did not qualify him as he would be still 39 years old and would only meet the age requirement five months after the holding of presidential elections.

"I have no plan, no ambition but a dream," Escudero said teasingly, and added that the beauty of nursing a dream is that it has no limits and is totally free.

He said he finds it wrong for a presidential aspirant to declare his intentions now, two years before the elections, because he said many things could still happen and that it would be awkward to drop out from the race when things change.

Escudero said politicians and political parties have their attention trained at the 2010 presidential elections and they are more comfortable that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would finish her term.

"We have already suffered and sacrificed for seven years, what is two years?" he said of Arroyo's administration.

Escudero said he was confident Arroyo would finish her term.

• 50% of flu victims in their teens, pre-teens
• CBCP happy with poll automation development
• De Castro unveils good governance agenda
• Prayer power for Aquino spreads to Internet
• CBCP head favors partial poll automation
• Automation firms say machines 100% accurate
• Hundreds of Moro rebels slain—military