NAGA CITY-Now, Malacañang can rest assured that Gibo would not bolt out.
Despite recent surveys showing rival Vice-President Noli De Castro way ahead, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Friday said he would vigorously seek the nomination to be the standard bearer of the administration party.
"It's still the Presidency or nothing. I would not seek to be vice president or senator. If I would not get the nomination of Lakas Kampi CMD, I would not run for President," Teodoro told the Inquirer.
He said the only thing that can stop him from seeking the Presidency would be failure to clinch the nomination.
With this statement, Teodoro offered the administration party an assurance that he would not do what former President Fidel V. Ramos did during the 1992 Presidential elections, when the then Defense Secretary junked the administration party after failing to be nominated as its standard bearer. Ramos subsequently formed his own party and won the Presidency.
But he said that although he was seeking its nomination, he would not run to "sell" or create good image of the administration. "In case I ran, what I would sell is my message."
Asked how he would court young voters who do not have favorable opinion towards the current administration he said he would present himself as a young leader with experience. "Besides, young voters also include those in their middle age."
Powerful supporters
Teodoro's statement that he would not pursue with running for the Presidency without the nomination is a big break from the statement of her wife, Tarlac Representative Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro, who a month ago said there were powerful people willing to back up the Defense Secretary's candidacy should he not be chosen as the administration candidate.
In the latest Pulse Asia Survey that De Castro topped with 18 percent preference rating, Teodoro, along with Sen. Richard Gordon, Philippine Long Distance Co. chair Manuel Pangilinan, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, only got one percent preference rating.
He (Teodoro) was way behind Senators Chiz Escudero (17 percent), Manny Villar (14 percent), and Mar Roxas (13 percent).
Naga sortie
Teodoro was in Naga to be the guest speaker during the induction ceremony for the new set of officers of the Camarines Sur Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, which has more than 800 members.
During the ceremony, Teodoro, who was introduced as a presidential candidate, said that he was for the reconsideration of the rule that does not allow lawyers to advertise their firms and services, lamenting that the rule, which he said was already discarded in several countries, was very archaic.
"Lawyers should advertise their services although they still should refrain from advertising themselves by divulging how many cases they have won."
Ealier, Teodoro also visited Iriga City, where he was hosted by Camarines Sur Representative Felix R. Alfelor Sr, Lakas Kampi CMD stalwart in the province. Jonas Cabiles Soltes, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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