NP not backing any bet

Senator Cynthia Villar. SCREENGRAB from INQUIRER.net FILE VIDEO

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—With just 41 days to go before the May 9 elections, the Nacionalista Party (NP) has decided not to endorse any presidential and vice presidential candidates, according to Sen. Cynthia Villar.

“Wala, free zone tayo (No one will be endorsed, we will have a free zone),” said Villar, whose husband, former senator Manny Villar, heads the NP.

She said they decided not to endorse anyone, especially in the vice presidential race, because the candidates were all their friends.

Three candidates for vice president— Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Antonio Trillanes IV—are members of the NP.

“The two others will be angry at us if we support just one. We will just let them campaign and see who gets lucky,” Villar said in Filipino.

“It’s a matter of destiny,” said Villar, whose husband ran for President but lost to President Aquino in 2010.

Villar was the commencement speaker at the 37th graduation rites of the Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU)-Carigara Campus in Carigara, Leyte, on Tuesday.

Asked if Marcos’ high ranking in the surveys would persuade the NP to support the only son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, she said the free zone policy would not change.