NPC facing ‘pleasant’ problem for 2013 polls

Majority Floor Leader Senator Vicente Sotto III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) has a problem going into next year’s senatorial election. But a “pleasant” one, as one of its senior members puts it.

According to Senator Vicente Sotto III, the Senate Majority Leader, three of the NPC candidates are caught between two powerhouse coalitions seeking to draft them in their senatorial tickets.

The NPC and the three candidates will have to play their cards well if they are to avoid turning off any of the competing camps, he said.

The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), led by Vice President Jejomar Binay and deposed President Joseph Estrada, and the coalition being formed by the ruling Liberal Party (LP) are both said to be eyeing Senators Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero, and Representative Jack Enrile.

“It’s a pleasant problem. We will play that properly. It’s difficult to talk about it, to make predictions. We will listen very carefully,” said Sotto.

Survey leaders

He noted that Legarda, Escudero and Enrile have been leading in recent surveys of prospective winners in the senatorial race.

Of the three, only Legarda and Enrile are officially with the NPC. Escudero bolted the party shortly before the 2010 elections after he failed to get the support for his planned presidential candidacy from the NPC head, business magnate Eduardo Cojuangco.

Leaders of the LP and the NPC met early Wednesday to iron out the outstanding issues in their planned coalition, which may eventually include the Nacionalista Party (NP), for the midterm elections.

But Sotto said Wednesday’s meeting, which will henceforth take place every Wednesday, tackled only local positions where the emerging consensus was to apply the “equity of the incumbent.” This means that if LP and NPC members were to contest the same position, the incumbent official would get the coalition’s endorsement and support.

Sotto said both parties have yet to resolve the status of Legarda, Escudero and Enrile, especially in light of a statement from LP chairman Senator Franklin Drilon that the ruling party will not admit “guest candidates” into its lineup.

Meanwhile, Sotto said the NPC was against the idea of a “super coalition” between the UNA and the administration. Putting candidates of both camps in one lineup would leave out another set of 12 candidates, he said.

No to ‘super’ coalition

And with no opposing senatorial ticket, whoever gets picked in the UNA-LP slate will essentially end up as the next batch of senators.

“There can’t be a super coalition. It’s like having an election already. Whoever you put (in the ticket) will be a sure winner,” he said.

According to Sotto, those advocating for a “super” coalition probably think they are sure to land a spot in such a lineup.

“They feel that they would get in, but how about the others?” he said, adding that the likes of Representative Milagros Magsaysay and Joey de Venecia of UNA, and Joel Villanueva and Risa Hontiveros of LP might be left out.

“There are candidates who want to get into the Top 12 of the NPC-LP coalition. There are also those who want to get in UNA’s 12. The feeling would be: Why would you get candidates from the other side when you have us who also want to get in?” he said.