Administration coalition of LP, NP, NPC a done deal, says Aquino

President Benigno Aquino III. FILE PHOTO

Without naming the candidates, President Benigno Aquino on Thursday said the 2013 senatorial lineup of the administration coalition of the Liberal Party (LP), Nacionalista Party (NP) and Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) was complete.

He said coalition officials were just ironing out a few kinks, particularly in the selection of official candidates in the local levels.

“There will be conflicts in a coalition when it comes to the lower levels, particularly in the local government units. Inevitably, we will have areas which will be contentious,” said Mr. Aquino.

“I think all parties to the coalition recognize that. But the goal is to have a unified ticket,” he added.

Last week, Senator Manuel Villar, NP president, met with members of his party where he explained the need to move on from the 2010 presidential election.

Facing over a hundred NP members, including Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes IV and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Villar formally announced the party decision to coalesce with the LP for next year’s midterm elections.

He announced that his wife, former Las Piñas Representative Cynthia Villar, and reelectionist senators Cayetano and Trillanes would be running on the administration slate of the NP, LP and NPC coalition.

“It’s confirmed that we will have three slots in the administration senatorial slate, but we’re working on a fourth slot for our party,” said former Surigao del Norte governor and Representative Robert Ace Barbers, NP spokesperson.

NP members support the election coalition since many Nacionalistas in the House of Representatives belong to the LP-led administration coalition in the lower chamber, said Barbers.

“It is a feat quite worthy of emulation by other politicians that in spite of bitter rivalries in the campaign period, both leaders realized that there is a need to be united in one common agenda, which is the development of the country as well as the alleviation of the plight of our poor Filipino brothers,” said Barbers.

During the meeting, the NP also formed an “arbitration committee” composed of Representatives Al Francis Bichara and Jesus Crispin Beltran, among others. Michael Lim Ubac