MANILA, Philippines?Bayani Fernando lost his chance to become the presidential candidate of the administration-backed Lakas-Kampi-CMD in 2010, not by a party vote but through an unusual selection process by its 65-member national executive committee.

The committee yesterday picked the other aspirant, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, as its standard-bearer through what was described as a less expensive mode than holding a national convention. An insider reported a 42-5 vote for Teodoro.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno was endorsed as Teodoro?s running mate, according to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s political adviser Gabriel Claudio, who is the merger?s secretary general.

Lakas Kampi executive director Reginald Velasco said Puno?s selection was made easier after Fernando rejected overtures that he slide down to vice president.

Their nomination, however, was questioned by Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., president of the Lakas party, saying that the Lakas-Kampi ?does not yet have a legal personality as a political party and does not have the power to choose and accredit an official presidential candidate.?

Defeated motion

Coalition officials decided to go on secret balloting after Fernando, chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), made a motion in his speech that all party members, instead of only committee members, vote for their candidate.

The motion was ?defeated,? they said.

?We wanted to avoid animosities,? Prospero Pichay, vice president for membership, said of the decision. But Ray Roquero, executive director, maintained that secret balloting was the original plan.

For Fernando, party loyalty did not serve him well. He is now contemplating on leaving the administration coalition and keeping his hopes alive to run for president under another party.

?I?ll keep my options open,? he told party mates shortly before they cast their votes in a closed-door meeting at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

Fernando was responding to a question by Pampanga Rep Juan Miguel ?Mikey? Arroyo on whether he saw himself running in another party if he failed to get the nomination.

For his part, Teodoro said ?running in another party is not an option for me.?

Party loyalty

Before the secret balloting, Fernando told the national executive committee that the ?selection process would define the character of our party.?

He described himself as a ?loyal member of the party, someone who has seen its growth, its ups and downs since its inception in 1992.?

?I would like to see our party to be worthy of that loyalty that I have given over the long years,? he said.

A former member of the Nationalist People?s Coalition (NPC), Teodoro only joined the Lakas-Kampi last month after declaring his presidential ambition.

Early in the day, Teodoro and Fernando appeared before the committee to present their platforms and reasons for seeking the party?s endorsement.

Fernando chose to focus on the procedure of selecting the standard-bearer.

?If we want to be truly democratic about the process of selection, voting should be done by the party-at large with duly designated voting members,? he said.

?We have to involve as many party members as possible in the process. After all, they are the true strength of the Lakas Kampi CMD,? he added.

No national assembly

The committee members rejected the idea of convening a national assembly to select the standard-bearer, according to Roquero. ?It?s impossible to do that,? he said.

In contrast, Teodoro said he was submitting to any mechanism in the selection. ?Whatever the mechanics, my friends, my party mates, I leave up to your collective wisdom and judgment to determine who shall be the standard-bearer,? he said.

Roquero said there was nothing unusual in choosing the candidate through secret balloting.

?That?s spelled out in our constitution and bylaws,? he said in an interview. ?There?s nothing unusual about it.?

Another party stalwart, Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, agreed. ?That?s the normal way of voting.?

He said the committee was mandated to select the party?s candidates.

Reacting to Fernando?s apparent threat to quit the party, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Lakas-Kampi interim president, said the selection process was ?done in a very transparent manner.?

?Chairman Fernando is a gentleman. We?re looking forward to his future action that befits how we know him as a respectable political leader,? he said.

Teodoro left the meeting before the closed-door voting, while Fernando, a committee member who inhibited himself from the voting, left only after the members thumbed down his plea to defer the voting and allow the entire membership to decide in a party caucus. With reports from Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. and Allison W. Lopez