MANILA, Philippines ? The Liberal Party (LP) appeared to have secured its grip on the National Capital Region with the official entry on Thursday of Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Caloocan City Mayor Recom Echeverri.

The defection of the two mayors from the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition is seen to boost the chances of victory of the LP standard-bearer Sen. Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III and his running mate, Sen. Manuel ?Mar? Roxas II, in the May 2010 polls.

Earlier, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim joined forces with the LP.

Aquino presided over the oath taking of the new LP members, including Belmonte, his daughter Joy Belmonte, and Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista, at the Amoranto Multipurpose Hall in Quezon City.

?I?m happy ... This is a gathering of like-minded people,? Aquino said in a speech.

In his own speech, Roxas said the LP was swelling with new recruits who want to ?bring to power a new administration that would [instill] massive reforms and good governance.?

?[The other parties] entice members with promises of money. As for us, we have no money. In fact, we will be asking money from you later,? he said.

From Quezon City, Aquino and Roxas motored to Caloocan City for Echiverri?s swearing in.

Thousands of residents?mostly clad in yellow shirts and waving the ?L??Laban (Fight)!?sign popularized by Aquino?s mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino, welcomed their arrival at the Bagong Silang covered court.

Echiverri told reporters that his decision to move to the LP was fueled mainly by ?the pulse of his constituents? and not due to any misunderstanding with Lakas.

He said that prior to his move, he commissioned a survey among Caloocan residents and found that 60 percent of them would vote for Aquino.

Echiverri is now the official LP candidate for mayor of Caloocan, the third largest city in Metro Manila in terms of population.

Many of those who attended the mayor?s oath taking were barangay (village) leaders who filled out application forms on the spot and were later sworn in by him as LP members.

Mayor Belmonte, who was the Lakas-Kampi-CMD executive vice president for external affairs, said moving to the LP was ?not an easy decision to make.?

?But I think this is the tide of the times,? he said.

Belmonte told reporters that he did not formally inform the Lakas leadership of his move to the LP.

?I just asked an official to tell them. I am sure they are not happy about it,? he said, chuckling.

Belmonte will run for Quezon City congressman in 2010. Bautista is gunning for the mayor?s seat, and Joy Belmonte, for vice mayor.

?It cannot be said that we are joining the LP because of opportunism. I have long wanted to join the LP, and I believe in the power of the Noynoy-Mar tandem,? Bautista said.

Joy Belmonte is stepping into Quezon City politics for the first time.

?I have always wanted to begin my political career with this party which shares my beliefs and convictions,? she told reporters.

Said Roxas: ?It?s a very big honor for us to accept their membership. Mayor Belmonte has a very good track record and we are humbled by their trust in us.?

Asked by the Philippine Daily Inquirer about comments that the LP was losing sight of its reform agenda by endorsing the very people who had once supported President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Aquino said:

?It is not my ambition to do another [round of] musical chairs. It is the cause and the support of the people that push me.?

Aquino also said that not all those wanting to join the LP were being accepted without the consensus of party members and allied groups.

?First of all, [applicants] have to advance the LP agenda. If we feel they cannot, then they will not be accepted. If I win, my agenda has to be their agenda too,? he said.

He added that the merging of traditional groups and nonconventional groups backing his campaign would make the LP a more effective party in 2010. Reports from Fe Zamora, Julie M. Aurelio and Beverly T. Natividad