Villar to endorse 3 NP party mates for Vice President

Manuel Villar Jr., Nacionalista Party (NP) president and former Senate President, will endorse the vice presidential runs of party mates Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV, and possibly Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., should Marcos take the same path, Sen. Cynthia Villar said on Monday.

Should the three senators vie for the vice presidency, it will just be an endorsement from Villar and some financial aid because the NP as a party will not openly support any one of them, said Senator Villar, the NP president’s wife.

Because of this arrangement, the NP will not support any presidential candidate in 2016, she said.

Speaking to reporters after Cayetano declared his bid for the vice presidency in Davao City, Villar said the party was awaiting the final moves of the three senators.

“Who will you choose [among Cayetano, Marcos and Trillanes]? It’s hard to choose. It’s like there is favoritism,” she said.

Senator Villar said it was the wish of her husband to “stay neutral” because it would be difficult to choose from the three senators.

Free zone

“Free zone,” Villar said. “We will help them. Maybe some of our members will choose on their own whom to support.”

Asked whether the NP might break up because it was not united in 2016, she said a free zone was much better “because no one will feel hurt since the party did not side with anyone.”

Once all three senators file their certificates of candidacy, the party will meet to lay down its rules, Villar said.

She said Cayetano’s announcement of his run for the vice presidency seemed to indicate he would be teaming up with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

She said she was aware that Cayetano was also talking to Duterte, who has yet to make a final decision if he would indeed be gunning for the presidency.

But Villar said she had a feeling Duterte would eventually run for President.

As for Marcos, Villar said it was likely he would also be making an independent run for the vice presidency.

Asked what she thought about the three senators running against Sen. Francis Escudero, who is ranked second in vice presidential surveys, Villar said the three were all brave.

For his part, Escudero said Cayetano was “capable, experienced and has every right to offer himself and run for higher office.”

“I wish him well,” Escudero said in a statement.

Of the NP three senators, Cayetano and Trillanes have announced their plans to run for Vice President.

Magdalo convention

Trillanes is set to formally announce his own vice presidential bid on Saturday when the Magdalo Party holds its convention at Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City.

Reacting to Cayetano’s announcement, Trillanes said that as a party mate, he respected the latter’s decision. “I wish him well so we will just see each other in the polls.”

He said the entry of Cayetano in the vice presidential race would allow people to choose from several candidates.

Marcos said he was not surprised by Cayetano’s announcement because the latter had already made previous statements about this.

“I don’t think the fact he (Cayetano) declared in Davao means anything in terms of him being the tandem of Mayor Duterte,” Marcos told reporters.

Marcos said he would announce his own political plans at the earliest this week, saying discussions are more on the possibility of him running for Vice President so far.

Binay-Marcos tandem

He said his camp had been talking to both Duterte and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“They’re (talks with Binay) ongoing as we speak,” Marcos said.

On the possibility of an independent vice presidential run, Marcos said this was “not completely finalized” as he conceded that “running for a national position as an independent is a difficult thing to do.”

On the prospects that he would be running against two party mates, Marcos said: “Once the campaign begins, we will … do our best.”

Binay, meanwhile, said he and Marcos still had time to talk about whether the latter would be his running mate.

He said his talks with Marcos had to do with “how they could come up with an agreement,” such as how they will make an announcement.

Asked whether this meant their joint announcement was just the only thing being awaited, he said “that is part of the process.”

“I’m looking forward to the time that we’ll have a talk so that this could be completed,” Binay said.

Asked about Cayetano’s vice presidential bid, Binay said people would now have many choices in the vice presidential race.