Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte is optimistic that an alliance between the Liberal Party (LP) and Nacionalista Party (NP) congressmen will be forged soon to pave the way for his bid to recapture his old post as speaker.

He stressed, however, that making Senator Manuel Villar Jr. as the next Senate president is not part of the deal.

Belmonte said he met Villar over the weekend, to discuss the possibility for their parties to enter into an alliance in the 15th Congress which the incoming QC congressman hopes to lead as speaker.

An LP member, Belmonte slammed speculations of a horse-trading with Villar wherein he will get NP’s support for his speakership bid in exchange for LP’s backing for the defeated NP standard-bearer’s attempt to return to the Senate as its president.

“That’s not true, we discussed nothing of that sort,” said Belmonte.

House Assistant Majority Leader Crispin Remulla revealed that the two former House speakers met last Saturday to renew their friendship which was interrupted by Belmonte’s decision to join LP and support the candidacy of presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Villar and Aquino launched a bitter presidential rivalry that was marred by massive and well-funded smear campaigns directed at each other.

A week after conceding defeat in the presidential race Villar, who is NP president, agreed to meet Belmonte to bury the hatchet and discuss a possible LP-NP alliance in the Lower House.

“Nothing is final yet but as much as possible we want a good start for the country. Kalimutan na ang pulitika,” said Remulla as he hinted that Belmonte could get the NP endorsement. (“Let’s forget about politics.”)

The veteran lawmaker said the general sentiment within their party is not to take “a hardline stance” against LP but a final decision on who to support among candidates for speaker will “depend on negotiations.”

“We can tilt the balance (in the speakership race) but we don’t want to rock the boat right now,” Remulla said, hinting that Belmonte will likely win over NP to his side.

Villar and Belmonte, both former speakers, developed a strong friendship during their stint in the Lower House only to part ways during the 2010 presidential campaign.

It is now all up to Villar to throw much needed NP party votes to Belmonte, whose party was only able to gain 44 out of the possible 256 seats.

Reelected Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron revealed that Villar had been given by NP solons the “blanket authority” to determine who among the speakership bets will get their support.

Biron said NP won 23 congressional seats but the party could throw as much as 45 votes for Villar’s choice for speakers because of its party-list alliances.

Biron, chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchise, had apparently counted Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, and other left-leaning party-list groups in the equation. The three party-list groups are expected to get nine seats in the chamber.

Belmonte believes Arroyo will face him in the speakership race but the latter has declared she is not interested in the top House post.