The race for the 2010 presidential elections heats up as Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Nationalista Party, Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino, the Liberal Party, the National People’s Coalition nominate this Wednesday their presidential and vice-presidential bets under the Fair Elections Act.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the nomination period ends on November 30. The monolithic Lakas-Kampi-CMD will nominate Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro as its presidential candidate. The vice presidency is a toss-up between Senator Loren Legarda, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

The Nationalista Party will nominate Senator Manuel Villar as its standard bearer while the vice presidential bet has not yet surfaced.

The Liberal Party, on the other hand, will formalize its candidates for the top post in the persons of Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, and Senator Mar Roxas, whose parents’ legacies are hard to ignore.

Former President Joseph Estrada, the perennial champion of the masses, will banner the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

The Nationalist People’s Coalition, founded by businessman Danding Cojuangco, will make an important nomination in the person of Congressman Annie Rosa L. Susano as it mayoralty candidate in Quezon City. (E.T. Suarez)