Lakas-Kampi standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro Jr. said party members
who back other presidential aspirants run the risk of enduring strict
disciplinary actions or outright expulsion.
But he said the Lakas campaign had already forecast the eventual
party-switching among its ranks before it launched his presidential bid.
"We have factored [into the campaign strategy] a certain amount of
defection [that would take place]. That happens. You can't stop it.
Rather than not accept [defections] as a reality, you have to be ready
[if you want to proceed with an efficient campaign]," he said.
Teodoro toured this town on Wednesday, part of a Pangasinan sortie
that coincided with the two-day provincial tour of his cousin, Senator
Benigno Aquino III, standard-bearer of the Liberal Party.
On Sunday in Baguio City, Florencio Abad Jr., LP campaign manager,
said his party had been documenting the activities of Lakas provincial
candidates, who have openly campaigned for Senator Manuel Villar Jr.,
the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer.
Abad said LP has
concluded that Villar may soon receive full backing from the Lakas-Kampi
leadership, which would place Teodoro in an awkward position.
When asked here, Teodoro said Lakas would not conduct any loyalty
check to preempt more members from abandoning the administration
campaign.
"It's a party matter, so it will be the party which will act on the
erring party members," Teodoro told reporters here.
"Asal na ng ibang Filipino 'yan, di maiiwasan (That's how some
Filipinos behave. We can't avoid that)," he said.
He said there was no evidence that a Lakas member from Pangasinan had
turned his or her back on Teodoro's candidacy.
He said Pangasinan will be significant if he wants to win the
presidency because of its huge number of voters. But he said he has not
contacted Pangasinan Representative Jose de Venecia Jr., a Lakas
co-founder who was expelled last year after he broke ties with President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Teodoro and his teammates held motorcades in eastern Pangasinan but
Aquino had been barnstorming the province since Tuesday. The cousins
never met.
Asked what he will do in case they meet, Teodoro said: "Kakamayan ko
siya (I would shake his hands). But I won't kiss him. That will be too
much."
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer
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