Where would the NPC and the Nacionalista party put their political bets

The Liberal party has its bet, Mar Roxas, possibly running with Grace Poe. UNA, which is the party formed by merging former president Joseph Estrada's Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) and Vice president Jejomar Binay's PDP-Laban is fielding Binay as their own. Lakas is financing Rudy Duterte's trial balloon but nothing is definite yet.

Now, there are two main parties left which are the Nationalist Party controlled by former senator Manny Villar and the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) of Danding Cojuangco. The NP has three potential candidates, namely Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Bongbong Marcos and Antonio Trillianes IV. While there's no news coming from the NPC ranks, which formerly tried and failed to field Senator Chiz Escudero.

It is important to know where these parties will go or what direction will they take in the coming months since they are considered serious parties as well with their vaulted mass networks. NP is the second biggest political party yet we haven't heard from them.

Several months ago, talks that Senator Manny Villar was trying to revive his presidential interests went south when his wife, Senator Cynthia Villar herself doused cold water to the proposal. If you study what's happening very closely, it is actually a good time for Villar to revive his presidential ambitions, for several reasons.

1. Villar is perceived by the business community as a safe candidate. He belongs to the community and therefore understands what the business community needs.

2. There is no charge of corruption against Villar.

3. There is no formidable name among those being chosen strong enough to counter Vice president Jejomar Binay.

What is entirely possible is a Villar vs. Binay fight which is like a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao one.

Or, the Nationalista party can very well coalesce with the Liberal Party and secure the senatorial lineup as well as the second spot if Grace Poe decides to join the Nationalista.

In that setup, obviously the LP will gain more because their bet is weak. The only question really is--would it be enough to prop up the sagging popularity of Roxas? I don't think so.

If the Nationalista decides to put their trusts behind Binay's camp, then, the Vice president wins, hands down. The thing is two Nacionalistas, namely Cayetano and Trillianes were responsible for that smear campaign against the Vice president and this puts a merger in a very tight spot.

Of course, that will only happen if these two nincompoops bolt the party and join their principals at the Liberal party.

Possible deserters from the NP side are Cayetano and Trillianes who are expected to join the Liberals. If this happens, then they will be cheering in the sidelines with Grace Poe acting as Mar Roxas' John the Baptist. Will they sacrifice their own promising careers and reputations just to make Roxas' win? Well, this question is surely a multi-million enigma.

Now, how about Lakas?

Surely, Lakas will not field their own candidate because doing so would further decimate their ranks and eventually lead to their irrelevance. They would surely place their bets to the winning or probable winner. I bet my bottom dollar they would go to Binay.

So there.

Let's see what the Nationalist party would do in the next few weeks. Will they field their own or will they just coalesce but to whom or which party?