The alliance of Manny Villar, NP, and Loren Legarda, NPC, for president and vice president, respectively, is a strong challenge to the other contenders for the top two places in the 2010 elections.

While Villar is currently second place in the presidential polls, his standing is expected to get a big boost from his alliance with Loren, an acknowledged vote-getter as shown by her being No.1 in two senatorial elections she had entered, in 1998 and again in 2007.

(The Manila Bulletin is the only broadsheet daily that featured the pair's formal proclamation last Tuesday as its banner headline story, and splashed on its front-page, a five-column spread photo in full-color of the two candidates raising jointly their hands, the picture almost occupying half of the entire page.)

While the Social Weather Stations gave the Liberal Party’s Noynoy Aquino a top rating of 60 percent in October, the Pulse Asia gave him only 44 percent support in November. In both polls, Villar was at second place with three other contenders. Joseph Estrada, Chiz Escudero, and Gibo Teodoro trailing far behind.

This gives credence to the statement of Villar that as time goes on, the gap between him and the leading candidate was narrowing. He correctly attributed the first surge of Noynoy to “emotions” following soon after the funeral of Noynoy’s mother. In the coming months of the campaign, that “emotionalism” would fade and give way to the reality that the voters must choose the pair that would ultimately lead them out of poverty, despair, and instability.

The Manny-Loren tandem is expected to generate a bandwagon effect for the ticket, especially among leaders and followers of the Nacionalista Party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition. With Chiz Escudero having abandoned the NPC, many NPC stalwarts in Congress and the local governments will back Villar for president, while the NPs also have no choice but to support Loren.

Members of the administration party, Lakas-Kampi, noting that their candidate, Gibo Teodoro, is rating very poorly in the polls, will be forced to join either the NP or the LP in the presidential contest, with most of them going over to the NP-NCP alliance of Villar and Loren.

Manny and Loren were born of poor and middle-class families that represent the great majority of the voters. They both know how it is to be poor and to struggle for existence, and, therefore, have a natural sympathy for the lower classes, even after they have achieved success in life.

Because of his success in business, Manny has the managerial expertise that could turn the economy around and provide more jobs, while Loren is known as an ardent environmentalist, whose advocacy for a green and protective environment, would improve the quality of life and protect the people, especially the poor, against harsher natural disasters.

They both are ardent protectors of OFWs, recognizing their sacrifices and contributions to the national economy, while Loren is known for her advocacy for the rights of women and children. Because of this, Loren is expected to bring the women’s vote to Villar-Loren.

Theirs is a convergence of platforms that naturally brought them together in alliance against what some call the forces of elitism and traditionalism.

Both have also been fighters against corruption.

The resolution of the Senate majority dismissing the charges of violation of the code of ethics against Villar frees him from any taint of corruption.

He, therefore, goes into the electoral combat untainted with corruption, and this also holds true for Loren. Hence no issue of corruption can be raised against them.

Hence the Manny-Loren tandem is a powerful combination and the team to beat in the 2010 elections.