Eight members of the House of Representatives belonging to the Liberal Party (LP) joined the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD and support the candidacy of administration standard-bearer Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., it was learned on Saturday.

The defection came amid ongoing talks between the LP factions under Environment Secretary Jose “Lito” Atienza Jr. and former Senate President Franklin Drilon about the possibility of a reunion to back Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in his presidential bid.

The LP solons who switched to the administration party are Reps. Magtanggol Gunigundo (Valenzuela), Mary Mitzy Cajayon (Caloocan), Glenn Chong (Biliran), Reynaldo Uy (Western Samar), Rodolfo Valencia (Oriental Mindoro), Solomon Chungalao (Ifugao), Alvin Sandoval (Malabon Navotas), and Jose Antonio Roxas (Pasay City).

The eight took their oath as members of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD last Friday. Of the defecting lawmakers, only Chong belonged to the Drilon wing and the rest were part of the Atienza wing.

But Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada, spokesman of the LP-Drilon wing, belittled the defection of the eight solons to the administration, saying it “has no bearing with the LP.”

“If we look at their party affiliation in 2007 elections, the six representatives identified with Atienza filed their certificates of nomination as Lakas candidates, one with UNO (United Opposition,” Tañada said in a text message.

“In this equation, we just lost one representative,” Tañada said, referring to Chong. He noted that the six of those who took their oath the other day

He said the party understood the decision of the party as he wished Chong good luck.

“We would like to wish Rep. Chong all the best. ‘It is that time of the season.’ Local politics played an important part in their decision. This is the weakness of our political party system in the country,” Tañada pointed out.

Appearing at the weekly “Kapihan sa Sulo” forum in Quezon City, Gunigundo and Cajayon said they arrived at such decision because of the “uncertainty” of the unification talks between the two warring factions of their former party.

“We believe that the administration has more definition and has less uncertainty. Hindi rin magulo kung sino ang team captain ‘di gaya ng ibang party that has members who claim to be opposition but technically they are hybrid because they have members who are part of the administration,” Gunigundo said. He did not elaborate.

The LP crisis started in 2005 when Drilon and his group asked President Arroyo to resign amid vote-rigging controversy brought about by the surfacing of an alleged wiretapped tape of her calls to former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. Atienza, then mayor of Manila, sided with the President.

Cajayon said they left LP because “we don’t see any unification along the way.”

Another reason cited by the two solons in joining the ruling party was their confidence in Teodoro’s ability to lead given his excellent academic background and strong political will.

“Gibo has all it takes to become the next President. He has good attitude because he believes that changes cannot be effected without the cooperation of government and the people,” Gunigundo said.

Cajayon added, “Secretary Teodoro is very much qualified. I’m surprised of his intellectual capacity. He is number one in the bar and Harvard-educated.”

Gunigundo said he informed Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, LP secretary-general, about their decision to join the Lakas-Kampi-CMD. While Cajayon said their decision to abandon the LP has Atienza’s blessing.

Lakas-Kampi deputy secretary generals Ray Roquero and Reggie Velasco said the eight lawmakers represented what could become a series of defections from the LP, depleting support for the LP presidential candidate.

“We are looking at a major erosion of the political opposition’s power base,” Roquero said, as he divulged that two more LP lawmakers are joining the administration party.

The two are Reps. Ma. Edita Arago of Laguna and Paul Daza of Northern Samar, he said.

Velasco said they expect an exodus of local officials to Lakas-Kampi-CMD ahead of its national convention next month to proclaim Teodoro as its standard bearer in next year’s elections.

“This is only the beginning. They see Lakas-Kampi-CMD as the party of reform and concrete achievement, and as the party of the future,” Velasco said.