The list of Cabinet members planning to join the 2010 national and local elections just got longer.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita Wednesday disclosed his plans to run for congressman in first district of Batangas in next year’s elections, leading 15 to 17 Cabinet officials who are expected to resign soon to pursue their political ambitions.

Ermita, one of the longest serving Cabinet members of President Arroyo, disclosed his plan on the eve of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD national convention.

The administration party revealed a mix of old and new politicians for its Senate slate Ermita said Lakas-Kampi-CMD party is considering Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Lito Lapid, Health Secretary Francisco Duque and Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, and Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico as senatorial candidates in next year’s elections.

Businessman Jess Aranza and veteran broadcaster Rey Langit are also part of the administration’s “compact” senatorial slate that will be formally proclaimed in Thursday’s national convention at the PICC.

Ermita first served the Arroyo government as acting Defense secretary in 2001 before taking a number of government positions until he was named the “Little President.”

“Somebody has to take over either I or someone else. I am considering going back to my district,” Ermita said in a news conference in the Palace, noting his daughter, incumbent Rep. Eileen Ermita-Buhain, would end her term next year.

Asked about his possible replacement at the Office of the Executive Secretary, Ermita said Press Secretary Cerge Remonde will likely be named as officer-in-charge by the President.

“Usually the one who steps into my shoes is the Press Secretary. I will not be wrong if the President designates him to be officer-in-charge. In the end, he is the President's choice,” he said.

Ermita previously served as congressman representing the first district of Batangas from 1992 to 2001. He was the principal author of the bill repealing the Anti-Subversion Law.

So far, Ermita said the President has readied replacements for some 15 to 17 Cabinet members who will run for public office in next year’s elections. He said government agencies have sufficient undersecretaries who can readily take the lead.

Among these outgoing Cabinet members are Health Secretary Francisco Duque, Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, TESDA director general Augusto Syjuco, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, Agriculture Arthur Yap, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr., and Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando.

Duque and Bello are included in the administration's senatorial slate. Syjuco, Lapus, Yap, Durano and Andaya are seeking congressional posts in their home provinces while Reyes and Atienza will run for mayor in Taguig City and Manila, respectively.

Other Cabinet men who have already resigned from their posts are Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Presidential adviser on the peace process Avelino Razon Jr., and Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.

Nat’l convention deadline Thursday

Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that political parties have until Thursday to hold political convention to select and nominate official party candidates for President, Vice President, Senator and all other elective positions at stake in the May 10, 2010 polls.

Comelec Chairman Jose A.R. Melo said the 20-day convention period for all registered political parties that started on October 21 as set in en banc Resolution 8646 pursuant to Republic Act 9369, the Poll Automation Law, will no longer be extended as the preparations for next year’s major political exercise have to be kept on target.

The Comelec said it sees no need to extend the convention period as political parties, particularly the big ones like the Liberal Party (LP), the Nacionalista Party (NP), Puwersa Ng Masang Pilipino, and Lapiang Manggagawa (LM) already held their conventions and selected and nominated their official candidates for President, Vice President and Senators.

The LP, Comelec records showed, is fielding the tandem of Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas. Ranged against them are former President Estrada and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay of PMP, Senators Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda of the NP, and former Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. of LM.

NP proclamation rally set in Tondo

As this developed, NP Spokesman Adel Tamano said the party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) will proclaim their have a full senatorial slate on Monday.

“We will be coming up with a full senatorial slate. We will announce the complete names of our senatorial line-up during our proclamation rally in Manila late this month,” Tamano told reporters during the Fernandina Forum at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City.

Aside from Tamano, among those who are expected to get the nod of the NP for its senatorial slate in 2010 election include Senator Pia Cayetano, Bukidnon Representative TJ Guingona and former Cavite Representative Gilbert Remulla.

“From the last that I saw during our discussion, we will have more NP candidates to be fielded for our senatorial slate. During our proclamation rally, hindi lang formal na ipapakilala ang tandem ni Senator Manny Villar at Senator Loren Legarda but also our senatorial candidates,” he said. (With reports from E.T. Suarez and Francis T. Wakefield)