Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio sees a merger of the ruling parties Lakas and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI) within three months.

He says this is doable with the support of party members and leaders.

Claudio says they are doing this by starting at the local level, and, in fact, it has worked in the Davao and the Cordillera regions where mergers of both parties have already happened.

He sees Lakas surviving the merger since Lakas is already the dominant majority party registered with the Commission on Elections.

Claudio says this distinction will be considered during the merging process.

He says they want to avoid a repeat of the scenario in the 2007 polls where Lakas and KAMPI candidates were slugging it out for the same posts. They want to ensure that 60-70% of elected officials will come from the merged party.

Asked to comment on last night's statement by Congressman Luis Villafuerte that they would rather merge KAMPI with the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Claudio says that Villafuerte may not have heard Presisdent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's admonition Thursday morning at the executive committee meeting of the ruling parties in Clark, Pampanga.

Claudio also said that the national unification and consolidation committee he will chair has also been tasked to determine the administration's standard bearer for the 2010 elections.

He says a candidate will be named after the merger has taken place. He says his committee will be comprised of congressmen and local officials.

Claudio, meantime, defended their consolidation of the party and preparations for the 2010 elections amid the crisis in the economy.

He says the economy is their other main agenda in today's meeting of the ruling parties.

He says they can work on both the economy and the elections at the same time since incumbent officials will be in good positions to create jobs and livelihood
opportunities and assist Mrs. Arroyo in dealing with the crisis.

President Arroyo ordered on Thursday the creation of a national consolidation and unification committee to fast track the merger of the ruling parties Lakas and KAMPI.