MANILA, Philippines?Only a few hours after declaring that he was thinking of leaving the ruling Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats, Speaker Prospero Nograles was singing a different tune.

?Why will I resign? Why? Why should I?? Nograles told reporters covering his campaign sortie in Davao City on Monday night. He said that as a senior member, he could not allow ?my party to be wrecked by any wrecking crew.?

?No, I am not transferring. I am the Lakas president,? Nograles said. Told by reporters that his statements were confusing, he curtly said: ?What?s confusing about them?? Then he left.

In a statement issued Tuesday that curiously dropped Kampi from the name of the ruling party, Nograles warned its standard-bearer, Gilbert ?Gibo? Teodoro, to ?shape up? or party members might move to adopt another presidential candidate.

?Enough is enough. Gibo must shape up?address the grievances of Lakas members, recover their confidence, motivate the party?or he ships out of the party,? said Nograles, who is seeking the mayor?s seat in Davao.

On the phone with the Inquirer in Iloilo City, Antique Rep. Exequiel Javier said ?the coalition is imploding and more will be leaving.?

Javier agreed with Nograles? earlier statement that the party was in ?disarray,? with many disgruntled members planning to get out of it.

But Teodoro warned party stalwarts against using him as the basis for leaving.

?This is all I can say. Nobody should use me or the party as a reason to defect,? he told reporters before meeting with local supporters at Del Rio Hotel in Iloilo Tuesday.

He added that he would run his own campaign ?regardless of the defections.?

Dizzy

In the statement that Nograles issued earlier on Monday, he said Lakas-Kampi-CMD members were ?dizzy? over what had been happening in the party.

?Even as a senior officer of the party, I hardly know what?s happening because they make decisions without the courtesy of even briefing us,? he said.

He hinted that he might defect to the Nacionalista Party (NP), saying its presidential candidate Manuel Villar might back his campaign against his political archrival Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, whose daughter, Sara, is his rival for the mayor?s seat. (Duterte is running for vice mayor.)

Asked Tuesday to comment, Villar said he had yet to speak with Nograles.

?We haven?t talked about this issue. I?ve only read about it in the newspapers,? Villar told reporters in Caloocan City.

But Sara Duterte said it would be ridiculous for Nograles to forge an alliance with Villar because the NP standard-bearer did not believe in him.

A ?toady?

?The last time I talked to Senator Villar, he told me that Nograles will lose this election,? she said.

Satur Ocampo, who, along with Liza Maza, is a guest senatorial candidate of the NP, said he and Maza had advised Villar and other party leaders against accepting Nograles.

Ocampo described Nograles as a ?toady? of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ?out to disprove the ?Villarroyo? Liberal Party propaganda.? It was a reference to allegations that Villar was the secret candidate of Ms Arroyo and her husband.

?We are not NP affiliates but allies,? Ocampo said. ?Our role is to preserve the integrity of the alliance based on the agreement on platform and advised Villar against steps that will not be positive for him, the NP and our alliance. Nograles? entry is more negative than positive.?

Charade

In General Santos City, former Lakas president and Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez said Nograles? earlier declared plan to defect could be part of a scheme.

?It looks like a charade is unraveling before our eyes,? Dominguez said.

But he said he did not want to believe that Nograles? announcement was part of the Arroyos? secret support for Villar.

?I don?t want to believe that Nograles? alleged defection fits into the pattern, but I am seeing no other way,? Dominguez said.

But Lakas-Kampi-CMD vice president Prospero Pichay indicated that the party could survive Nograles? resignation, as it had survived that of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

Pichay said ?the party even became stronger? with the resignation of De Venecia, who quit after his ouster as Speaker on February 2008 over his son?s expose of the NBN-ZTE deal.

?A resignation by any of the highest officials will not destroy the party because it?s already an institution,? Pichay said by phone.

Disgruntled

In the statement he issued Tuesday, Nograles said local leaders would consult with their constituents and come up with a stand on Teodoro by the end of this week.

He said ?disgruntled? party members could form a faction and adopt another presidential candidate, or ?worse,? they could ?force an assembly and vote as a party to adopt another presidential candidate.?

?Congressmen, governors and mayors have been calling me to air their grievances and concerns about Lakas. They are looking up to the senior members of Lakas to do something to save the party. We will not resign from Lakas. The consensus is that not one man could wreck Lakas,? Nograles said, adding that he was president of Lakas before it merged with Kampi last year under Teodoro?s stewardship.

Nograles cited instances where Teodoro purportedly failed to prevent a defection of party stalwarts to rival parties?Rodolfo del Rosario and Neptali Gonzales Jr. to the Liberal Party, and Luis ?Chavit? Singson, Jose Zubiri, Douglas Cagas, Corazon Malanyaon and Arthur Uy to the NP.

?As the president of Lakas-CMD before it was merged with Kampi, I cannot sit back and watch the party disintegrate under Gibo,? Nograles said.

He said Teodoro had ?a wrong sense of priorities? and was spending more time in small provinces rather than vote-rich ones.

He also chided Teodoro for quitting as party chair when local leaders were looking to him for direction at the start of their campaign two weeks ago.

Open to talks

Teodoro indicated that he was open to talking with Nograles.

?If he wants to talk to me, fine. But I really don?t see what there is [to talk about],? he told reporters on the steps of Del Rio Hotel.

Teodoro said he was not taking back his statement that Nograles would not be a big loss to the party.

He added: ?Everything can be settled. But I am focused on my campaign. They should not involve me in local issues that I have nothing to do with.?

Congressman Javier said that after the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi, ?the party old guards were replaced by neophytes who do not know the conditions on the ground.?

?This has resulted in unsound decisions and actions without the benefit of consultations with party officials and members,? he said.

Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said in another phone interview that many party members had reacted negatively to Teodoro?s sudden resignation as party chair.

?Many of us members were not informed. Everyone is part of the party, and we felt that [Teodoro] should have called for a meeting to discuss the problem and inform us what actions will be taken,? Garin said.

House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor belittled the impact of Nograles? leaving the party, but said he also expected more administration officials to quit.

All three, however, said they would stay with the party.

Congratulations

Malacañang appeared relieved that Nograles had decided to stay put.

?If the Speaker eventually decides to stay in Lakas and in particular to support ... Teodoro, then the Speaker and the party leadership should be congratulated?one for keeping his word, the other for keeping it together,? Gary Olivar, Ms Arroyo?s deputy spokesperson, said in a statement.

Earlier Tuesday, Olivar said the President would leave it to party leaders to fix the problem.

?I think she has said she is convinced that running the party should be left to the party leadership, in the same way that running the country is continuously her job as the country?s President,? he said of Ms Arroyo, who is away on a visit to the United States and later to Spain.

He added that Ms Arroyo had not sent word on her reaction to the ruling party?s troubles but that he could ?imagine? she was ?concerned? about it.

Olivar called on administration allies to stay in the party.

?I will just remind them of the appeal from ... Teodoro for the party to continue to stay together. I will remind them that ... Teodoro, at the end of the day, does continue to be the candidate who most deserves the presidency to our mind,? he said. Reports from Jeffrey Tupas and Aquiles Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao; Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas; and Gil C. Cabacungan, Michael Lim Ubac, Christine O. Avendaño and TJ Burgonio