MANILA, Philippines ? President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Thursday rallied her troops behind the administration?s candidates in the May elections, calling the ruling coalition the ?party of the future? and ignoring widening cracks within its ranks made obvious by the absence of its leading lights.

The President gave a fiery farewell speech as chair of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition before 3,000 cheering supporters gathered at the Philippine International Convention Center for the proclamation of their standard-bearer, resigned Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., and his running mate, actor and TV host Edu Manzano.

Ms Arroyo, whose term expires next year, said that the coalition had been the nation?s most dominant in 15 of the last 17 years with members comprising 72 percent of national and local officials.

Since the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino) has been upheld by the Commission on Elections, she said it was ?now a time to consolidate our ranks and fortify our party for the electoral battle ahead.?

?Let us transform the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party from the party of the present to become the party of the future,? Ms Arroyo said.

?But first things first. Let us get them elected,? she said, with ?as big a mandate as you our leaders in the countryside and urban centers can win from our people.?

Absent were former President Fidel V. Ramos who is abroad and Bayani Fernando, chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, who is running for president.

This week, the coalition was rocked by defections to the Liberal Party (LP) by former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto, his wife Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano ?Sonny? Belmonte, its vice president for external affairs.

Across town, at the Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City, Belmonte and Caloocan Mayor Recom Echeveri were sworn in as members of the LP.

These are on top of the exodus of local officials to the LP and the Nacionalista Party, among others.

Idealism, confidence, youth

Ms Arroyo, who turned over the party chairmanship to Teodoro but stayed on as president-emeritus, drummed up support for Teodoro and Manzano.

She said the two candidates possessed the idealism, confidence and youth ?to move the nation forward? toward stamping out poverty, and bringing the country on the ?verge of First World within a generation.?

The President admitted that getting Teodoro and Manzano elected was a ?big and arduous task,? but she said the party has overcome many challenges before.

?There are many elected leaders who can?t find a seat here. So many leaders here from all over the country with a genuine mandate from our own people demonstrate that indeed our party is a party that can win,? she said.

No feeling of betrayal

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Ms Arroyo never felt betrayed by the defection of key officials.

?She?s a veteran politician. As you grow old in politics, you?re very understanding,? he said.

During the first part of the convention, the party approved resolutions nominating Teodoro and Manzano and filling key positions vacated by top officials, including Ms Arroyo.

Manzano and Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno were named as vice chairs of the party, replacing Speaker Prospero Nograles and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

In an attempt to infuse more youth into its ranks, the party named Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Alcantara Dominguez, 32, and Francis Manglapus, 54, as president and secretary general, respectively. The latter is the son of the late Sen. Raul Manglapus.

In Cotabato City, Gov. Zaldy Uy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said that his family, credited with the administration victories in the province in the past two elections, was supporting Ms Arroyo?s candidates. With a report from Nash Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao