Minority should craft formula to unify for 2010 elections

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said different parties and groups within the minority camp should start crafting a formula to unite and support a common presidential candidate in the 2010 elections.

Unless they join forces and rally behind a single standard bearer, it would be difficult for the minority to recapture the presidency and return to power, Pimentel said.

He said the strength of the minority can be seen in its many aspirants for the presidency. They include Senators Manuel Villar, Loren Legarda, Mar Roxas, Panfilo Lacson and Francis Escudero and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay.

Former President Joseph Estrada says he may be compelled to run if the presidential contenders in the minority groups will not agree on who among themselves should be the common standard bearer.

"The failure of the minority to unite will give the administration a tremendous advantage in the presidential race because it is very likely that it will only have one presidential bet," Pimentel said.

Political observers believe that Vice President Noli de Castro looms as the prospective presidential candidate of the administration.

Pimentel said the minority should consider the possibility of calling a national convention to select its common ticket to include the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial slots.

He said the Nacionalista Party, Liberal Party, Nationalist People's Coalition, Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and other groups could send delegates to the convention on the basis of proportional representation.

The various parties, according to Pimentel, may also form a unification council to be tasked, among others, with drawing up the criteria for the common presidential candidate as well as formulating the convention rules and determining the number of delegates each party is authorized to send to the convention.

Pimentel admitted that the unification of the minority groups at this stage looks like an elusive, if not impossible, goal because of the attitude of certain presidential aspirants that they will settle for nothing less than the number one slot.

Pimentel emphasized that the fielding of a common presidential bet will not only prevent the split of the opposition votes but will also enable the candidate to win by a wide margin. He said this would make it difficult for fraud operators to manipulate the results by padding the votes for the administration bet.