MANILA, 25 November 2003 — Three political parties sealed their “Alliance of Hope” yesterday, vowing to provide Filipino voters an alternative to the ruling coalition of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the opposition allies of ousted President Joseph Estrada.

Composing the alliance are the Aksyon Demokratiko of former Education Secretary Raul Roco, Reporma Party for presidential Executive Secretary Renato de Villa, and Promdi Party of former Cebu governor Emilio Osmena.

All three politicians ran during the 1998 presidential election, in an eight-way race which the more popular former movie actor Estrada won by a landslide.

Estrada was later removed from power in January 2001 during a popular uprising sparked by an attempt by the president’s allies in the Senate to thwart impeachment proceedings against him. He was succeeded by then Vice President Gloria Arroyo, an economist, who is now seeking a fresh mandate in May.

With the national economy still a laggard in Asia despite Arroyo’s credentials, the president faces a formidable challenge from allies of Estrada — either the immensely popular action movie star Fernando Poe Jr. or Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

The biggest opposition party, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), is trying to make Poe and Lacson submit themselves into selection process to pick a standard bearer.

To give voters a better choice between the Arroyo and Estrada groups, the “Alliance of Hope” is backing the presidential bid of Roco, a veteran legislator who resigned from Arroyo’s Cabinet early this year.

All three parties broke away from the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC) of Arroyo.

Roco quit the Cabinet after Arroyo announced that he would be investigated for alleged graft based on a complaint that an informal anti-graft panel had endorsed.

The announcement of the graft investigation surfaced at a time when Roco was consistently topping opinion polls on presidential aspirants, prompting suspicions that the president’s men were out to demolish the credibility of a potential threat.

De Villa, who was Arroyo’s first presidential executive secretary, blamed the president for the split in the ruling coalition.

Commenting on their problems of campaign machinery and funding, Osmena said he, Roco and de Villa won in their respective home provinces during the 1998 presidential elections without much funds and despite a weak machinery. In the 1998 election, Osmena would big in the vote-rich island of Cebu, Roco in the Bicol Region, and de Villa in Batangas and nearby provinces.

But most of all, Osmena said, he and his colleagues had on their side the “independent voters” across the nation, who he said comprised the majority of the electorate.

At the formal launchyesterday of his alliance, Roco said he had a “short list” of nominees for his running mate and he is also going to fill up his senatorial lineup in the next few weeks.

Roco mentioned as possible running mates Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senators Noli de Castro, Loren Legarda, Vicente Sotto III and Manuel Villar, Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando, de Villa, and Osmena.

De Villa told reporters he was being asked to run for election, but did not say for what position. He said he had yet to make up his mind. Osmena, a former governor of Cebu province, said he was definitely not running next year for any position.

Roco said he was considering in his senatorial lineup former solicitor general Frank Chavez, former Securities and Exchange Commission chief Perfecto Yasay, journalist-lawyer Mel Mauricio, former Philippine Olympic Commission chair Cristy Ramos-Jalasco, former executive secretary Oscar Orbos and television host Jay Sonza.

Ramos-Jalasco’s father, former President Fidel Ramos, is supporting the election bid of Arroyo, chair of the ruling party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats. Ramos is chairman emeritus of the party.

A search committee has reportedly been put up by the alliance. It supposedly includes former Health Secretary Jaime Galvez-Tan, former Tarlac congressman Herminio Aquino and former National Food Authority chief Edno Joson.

The Reporma, Promdi and Aksyon Demokratiko have called themselves the “alliance of hope.” (Additional input from Inquirer News Service)