Two major political bulletins were made last September 9, 2009 by Senator Noynoy Aquino and Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronnie Puno. As Sen. Aquino announced his decision of running for presidency in the next election, Sec. Puno announced later that day his support for the presidency of Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo“ Teodoro. Secretary Puno’s announcement of his support for the aspiring president and the chosen standard bearer of the Lakas-Kampi party was more of a surprised than Sen. Aquino’s predictable pronouncement of his presidency in the next election and his acceptance to become the standard bearer of Liberal Party. Known for being a good political strategist, people expected Sec. Puno to remain quiet about his chosen standard bearer until the party itself has chosen already.
I surely agree with Sec. Puno when he said in a conference in Camp Crame that his alliance with Sec. Teodoro would be a victorious tandem for the Lakas-Kampi party. With the force of the political parts of Lakas-Kampi plus the support of the most provincial governors, triumph of the Gibo-Ronnie tandem would be the pride of the administration party.
“We believe that with Sec. Gilbert Teodoro as our presidential standard bearer, and I, speaking for myself, as an aspirant for vice president, I believe that running with Gibo Teodoro is going to be a winning move…And I’m confident that with him as our presidential candidate, Lakas-Kampi will go very far and actually win this election,” as stated by Sec. Puno.
As Sec. Teodoro’s vice president, Sec. Puno’s years of experience of public service particularly aissues concerning local government can give him mature advices which can help settle a lot of issues. Sec. Puno is more than qualified to become a candidate with a record of a top-notching result in bar exam plus the fact that Sec. Puno has been serving the government for long period of time.
Secretary Puno had his own survey among the local government throughout the country and his little survey revealed that most of the local officials such as the congressmen, governors and mayors are all routing for Sec. Teodoro. During the League of Provinces of the Philippines ( LPP) in Manila, there were 49 governors out of 50 who supported Sec. Teodoro. Secretary Puno said that about 80% of the governors support Sec. Teodoro. But that’s only a portion of the whole local officials; even congressmen are declaring their support for the presidential candidate. Secretary Puno said that Sec. Teodoro has already a record of 30 long years of public service and he’s one of the best government officials that he has worked with.
Secretary Puno believes that the younger generation has to have its say on the country, thus he believes that the Defense Secretary is very able to do this in leading the whole country. Secretary Puno also believes that his candidacy would become a lot more proficient if it’s with Sec. Teodoro’s candidacy for presidency.
I believe so.
