Everybody's ally. DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno holds the ground that way to shape an edge over the other aspirants for a nomination to the vice-presidential slot in the administration slate. Building track record of pacing presidential candidates to sure seats, Puno's cross-camp alliances seemed to have smoothened the red carpet to his vice-presidency ambition that confirms an election to look forward to in 2010, contrary to speculations from the opposition side. Though Puno hinted his edge through generations of partnership with the Macapagals and the Ejercitos and even a successful campaign strategy that sent Fidel Ramos to presidency in 1992, he said he would respect whoever the Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) would push for the vice-presidential race. Bur if chosen as vice-presidential bet of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Puno said he would set the example by shunning character-attack type of campaign and focus, instead, on tackling issues and finding better venues to effectively deliver his message to the people. It would be his first time to aspire for a national elective post, but Puno already knows the ropes in a nationwide campaign trails as he had been behind the successful campaigns of President Fidel Ramos in 1992, Joseph Estrada in 1998 and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004. Puno also won in the May 2004 elections as representative of the first district of Antipolo.

In February 2006, Puno reluctantly left his post as congressman when President Arroyo asked him to become the secretary of DILG for the second time. The first time was in 1999 during the term of President Estrada. Puno interacted with the local media last Friday at the Bohol Tropics after the joint meeting of the Peace and Order Council, Provincial Development Council, Provincial Board, League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Bohol chapter, Vice Mayors League of the Philippines-Bohol chapter, and Liga ng mga Barangay. He also witnessed during the meeting, the signing of the memorandum of agreement on the Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development between the provincial government of Bohol and the Canadian International Development Agency.

When asked on his real ally as the three Philippine presidents he had helped to their thrones have difficulty agreeing among themselves, Puno traced three generations of family ties with the Macapagals, saying his grandfather served as the family doctor of the Macapagals when the late president Diosdado- -the President's father- -was still a young boy. Then, his father became a confidant of the late president and was even appointed to the judiciary when Macapagal became president. And, the First Gentleman was his classmate in college. On the other hand, he said he started working closely with Estrada when the former president was still mayor of San Juan and he was with the DILG.

He had also served as consultant of Micron Public Affairs and president of Micrfon Overseas Marketing before returning to the DILG in July 1998 under the administration of Estrada and later became undersecretary until 1999 and chairperson of various attached agencies of the department as Estrada's representative, who was then DILG secretary in a concurrent capacity. In April 1999, Estrada named him secretary of DILG and stayed in the post until January 2000. Also during the press conference, Puno reiterated his stand on the futility of pursuing Constitutional amendment before the 2010 elections. He said that the House of Representative's approval of a measure to convene a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) is merely being pursued to seek a clarification on how such a method could be legally and properly carried out, citing the Constitution as ambiguous when it comes to implementing this mode of amending the Charter.

According to Puno, pro-administration members of the House of Representatives, which include 45 members of the erstwhile Kampi, had earlier made it clear with President Arroyo even with the Con-Ass move, they never meant to spoil her declaration on the assurance of elections in 2010. “Mark my words and trust me, there will be elections in 2010 in accordance with the Constitution and our existing laws,” Puno said. He said ongoing moves to amend the Constitution in Congress will have no impact at all on the 2010 elections as there is simply no time left to go through all the processes needed to push through with a constituent assembly. Describing claims of a “No-El” scenario as “frivolous”, Puno advised the opposition to stop wasting stirring media hype on this impossible situation.

Moreover, he noted that the Philippines would completely lose its credibility before the international community if it flip-flops on the holding of elections next year. No less than President Arroyo herself already assured the public that there will be elections in 2010 during the May 28 ceremonies at the Manila Hotel, which officially sealed the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi into the powerhouse political party that the disintegrated opposition camp has to face in next year's balloting. Puno, who is now co-vice chairperson of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, expressed optimism that the national and local candidates of Lakas-Kampi-CMD will sweep the May 2010 elections and steer the country to continued economic growth into the next decade. Puno had served as president, and, later, chairperson of Kampi prior to its merger with Lakas-CMD. With pride to take on how his thrust on self-reliance of local government units, through decentralization and devolution, has changed the rural areas into promising economic zones, Puno congratulated the LGUs for having gone far enough in utilizing the capacity-building activities in the past.