MANILA, Philippines — The configuration of the 2010 presidential election continued to take shape, with another possible team emerging and two popular evangelists flexing muscle.

On Thursday, former Senate President Jovito Salonga suggested the tandem of Senators Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for the 2010 race.

“In my opinion, it would be good for Mar as president and Noynoy as his teammate or vice president,” Salonga said at the reunion of survivors of the Plaza Miranda bombing on Aug. 21, 1971.

Both Roxas and Aquino III are members of the Liberal Party (LP), of which Salonga is the chair emeritus.

On Friday, the 26th anniversary of the assassination of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Jesus Is Lord leader Eduardo “Bro. Eddie” Villanueva is expected to declare his second stab at the presidency.

On his end, El Shaddai leader Mariano “Brother Mike” Velarde Thursday said he had started a survey among the charismatic group’s members to guide him in deciding whether to pursue his “real dream” to be president.

He said he had not yet made up his mind to go for it, and admitted that many El Shaddai members did not want him to plunge into the fray.

‘Fruits of good trees’

Roxas is the son of the late Sen. Gerry Roxas, who was among those wounded in the Plaza Miranda bombing.

Aquino III is the only son of Ninoy Aquino and former President Corazon Aquino, who died on Aug. 1.

Roxas has long announced his intention to run for president. Aquino III, who has another term to go as senator, is being urged to seek a higher post.

LP member Eddie Ilarde, a former senator, agreed with Salonga that Roxas and Aquino III should team up, especially because they were members of the same political party.

“Noynoy and Mar should work together because they are both fruits of good trees ... They should join forces for the sake of the country and for the sake of progress,” Ilarde said.

Salonga said that if Aquino III decides to seek a higher post, he should have the necessary determination and specific plan.

“Many people have said that it would be good for Noynoy to run for a higher position. But I don’t know whether he is determined to run for the presidency of the land,” Salonga said.

He said he preferred that Roxas run for president.

Not 1 family alone

In a privilege speech he delivered on Wednesday night to honor the memory of his parents, Aquino III said it was not his family that would make the crucial decision.

“To those who even prod us to continue the work of our parents by seeking higher office, we can only offer in reply our parents’ gentle reminder that the destiny of our country cannot be shaped by one family alone,” he said, adding:

“Of all the things that I have learned from my father and mother, what I value most is the virtue of humility in the eyes of our Creator.”

Asked if he was closing the door to running for higher office in 2010, the senator said: “I’m still trying to discern what my duty is.”

He said not one person should carry the burdens of the state, and that like his mother who ran for president in the 1986 “snap” election, he wanted to “achieve a certain level of certainty” that the people really wanted him to run.

Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, LP secretary general, Thursday said the party had yet to “seriously” discuss the possible arrangement between Roxas and Aquino III.

“Noynoy has always maintained a noncommittal stance about the issue,” Abaya said. “He is for teamwork in the party.”

Abaya also said the party was respecting the senator’s privacy in view of his mother’s recent demise: “We are not trying to shove it down his throat at this time.”

‘March for change’

Villanueva, who first ran for president in 2004, is to announce on Friday the participation of his party Bangon Pilipinas in the 2010 elections.

He chose to make his announcement at the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan, the site of the proclamation of the First Philippine Republic on Jan. 23, 1899.

“The heroic death of Ninoy Aquino is best honored by the birth of a new Philippines,” Villanueva said in a statement announcing his group’s gathering to commemorate Ninoy Aquino Day.

“The call for change is real. This march for change will show that Filipinos are genuinely committed to support the birth of a new Philippines,” he said.

In March, Villanueva launched a revitalized Bagong Pilipinas, Bagong Pilipino Movement, which is seen to be his machinery for his second attempt to win the presidency.

He said Thursday that at least 10,000 supporters were expected to march to Barasoain Church for the start of the program at 9 a.m.

“The Movement is holding the activity in Bulacan because the province is undisputedly the ‘Bayan ng mga Bayani (a province of heroes),’” said Villanueva, a native of Bulacan.

Survey questions

Velarde said El Shaddai started distributing “consultation papers” to members about a week ago.

Members are asked three questions: If they are registered voters; if they would vote for Velarde in case he runs for president; and if they would support the candidate Velarde endorses in the event he does not run for president.

Velarde said he would make a decision based on the results of the “consultation.”

And because he wants to be assured of at least 10 million votes, El Shaddai members are also being asked if they can help get the support of 25 other voters for Velarde in case he runs.

“It depends on what they want because it is the members who know me. If they don’t want me to run, that’s it,” he told reporters Thursday at the formal opening of the El Shaddai House of Prayer in the Amvel City compound in Parañaque City.

He said some of the members had been “challenged” by an unnamed senator’s statement that El Shaddai had “no solid vote.”

“So now the membership is solidifying,” he added.

Velarde said he would not carry a senatorial lineup. “If ever I get into that, ako lang (it will be only me),” he said.

He said he would expect “solid” support from El Shaddai members. But he also said he was still seeking advice from individual bishops.

Legal bind

According to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Velarde will find himself in a legal bind if he runs for president.

Said Santiago: “Under the Election Code, the Commission on Elections is prohibited from registering any religious political party. In effect, he will register El Shaddai as a party because it is known as a religious organization. He will have to think of some other name and he will [need] a political rather than a religious or spiritual agenda.

“That is a constitutional provision—there is a separation between church and state.”

Santiago also said Velarde would not win because “other churches will mobilize against him.”

She added: “As an amateur theologian, I tend to concur with the opinion of some prime theologians that the religious should not run for public office. They should keep themselves in their pulpits ... where they can disseminate their own agenda if they wish.”

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said Velarde would be “a force to reckon with.”

‘A threat’

He said Velarde would be “a threat” should his father Joseph Estrada decide to again seek the presidency.

“[Velarde] has a large following. Of course, everybody is really a threat—all those who are running believe that they have a chance to win,” Estrada told reporters.

Asked who between Velarde and his father had a bigger chance to win, the senator said: “It’s up to the people to decide.”

He added that seeking the presidency was Velarde’s “right.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson told reporters that all Filipinos who had reached 40 could run for president.

Asked if Velarde would be a force to contend with, Lacson, who also ran for president in 2004, said: “Probably, but I don’t think he has enough numbers to win the presidency.”