With the Noynoy Aquino-Mar Roxas tandem for the May 2010 presidential elections firmed up on Monday, Liberal Party (LP) leaders have shifted their political strategy to the selection of the 12 senatorial bets who will run under what they called the “LP People’s Slate.”

Former Senate President Franklin Drilon, now LP chairman, disclosed  this on Monday as he said that so far, four political personalities are officially included in the LP senatorial slate. They are Drilon, Akbayan Rep. Liza Hontiveros Baraquel, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon, and former Bukidnon Rep. Neri Acosta.

With Baraquel in their senatorial lineup, Drilon also said that the LP has formed an alliance with Akbayan party-list which is identified with the urban poor, farmers, and labor groups.

“We are open to forming an alliance with other sectors who share with us our advocacy for reform and change,” Drilon said in an interview following the announcement of the Noynoy-Mar tandem at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.

Muntinlupa Representative Ruffy Biazon said the formidable tandem of Aquino and Roxas offers fresh hope to Filipinos longing for outstanding leaders to appreciate and respect.

Biazon said candidates of other political parties will surely have a hard time measuring up to the combined qualities of the LP tandem.

He expressed confidence the Noynoy-Mar tandem in next year’s elections will enjoy greater popular support.

Drilon said the LP leadership is also negotiating with the camp of Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, leader of the Magdalo rebel soldiers who is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City while facing rebellion charges for allegedly leading an attempt to overthrow President Arroyo in February 2006.

He also said that there are several other politicians who want to be included in the LP senatorial slate although they have yet to undergo a thorough screening process. Drilon said the party decided to call its lineup the LP People’s Slate to establish a winnable senatorial lineup with candidates coming from different walks of life.

Former Education secretary Florencio ‘Butch”Abad said the LP is now in the final phase of their talks with the Magdalo group for the possible inclusion of Lim, a graduate of West Point Military Academy in the United States, in their lineup.

Allan Tanjusay, Lim’s spokesman, said that Lim and other Magdalo group members will declare which political party they will affiliate with in connection with their political aspirations for the May 2010 polls during their own convention on October 25.

The Nacionalista Party (NP) welcomed the announcement of a Noynoy-Mar tandem, saying it will only make next year’s presidential and local elections more exciting.

“Although, we in the Nacionalista Party are no longer surprised with the announcement, the tandem of Noynoy and Mar only makes the 2010 presidential election even more exciting,” NP Spokesman Adel Tamano said.

Tamano also said the “Golden Age” of RP politics is back, what with the LP and the NP fielding their own political bets in the May 10, 2010 elections.

“I know these gentleman (Noynoy and Mar) personally, and just like the NP’s Sen. Manny Villar who will run as president next year, they are all decent and will work hard only for the interest of the country and the people," he said.

At the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) front, the spokesperson of former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada said that the former chief executive has congratulated the LP its decision to field in a Noynoy-Mar tandem next year.

“This is a good tandem because of the legacies of their families. President Erap encourages them to reach beyond the middle class and the civil society, also the poor or masa,” Margaux Salcedo, the spokeswoman for Estrada, said.

“Unfortunately, this also shows that the opposition is unlikely to unite,” she added.

On the part of the administration, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar asserted the clear advantage of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, the administration presidential bet, and Interior and Local Secretary Ronaldo Puno, the preferred vice presidential bet, against their rivals.

Olivar said the presidential tandems of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and Sen. Manuel Roxas III as well as Sen. Francis Escudero and Sen. Loren Legarda may offer youth but fall short on track record of the Arroyo government’s bets.

The administration team has youth and experience to confront other presidential tandems that can only offer promises of performance, Malacañang said on Monday. (With reports from Edmer F. Panesa, Francis T. Wakefield and Genalyn Kabiling)