MANILA -- Like a blockbuster movie, the all-star cast of the May 2010 elections in the Philippines has been finalized.

With the administration Lakas-Kampi springing a surprise by naming TV-movie star and recently resigned Optical Media Board chairman Edu Manzano as the vice presidential running mate of presidential standard bearer Gilbert Teodoro, the main players are now known to the electorate.

The last piece of the puzzle will be the role that Senator Chiz Escudero will play.

After weeks searching for a viable vice presidential candidate, the Lakas-Kampi announced this week that Manzano was their bet. This despite Manzano having been mentioned as a probable senatorial candidate for two opposition parties – former President Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masa and Senator Manny Villar’s Nacionalista Party.

The administration party had been fruitlessly searching for a nationally known figure, preferably with show business roots, as running mate who could boost the stock of Teodoro who has been languishing at the bottom of the presidential bets in most surveys. The list had included Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, Senator Bong Revilla and even former newscaster and incumbent Senator Loren Legarda, all of whom refused to run with the erstwhile Defense Secretary, who resigned his Cabinet post this week.

The Teodoro-Manzano tandem will be facing the Liberal Party’s Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas, the Pwersa ng Masa’s Estrada and Jejomar Binay, and the NP’s Villar and Legarda. The last pairing has not yet been made official but both senators have already indicated that their partnership was a go.

This leaves Escudero as the last holdout. The youngest of the presidential aspirants, the 40-year-old Escudero unexpectedly resigned from the Nationalist People’s Coalition last month. Without a party, the senator has so far not told his followers if he still intends to run for president, even as an independent. He has, however, held talks with Senator Ping Lacson as a possible running mate. This was confirmed by Lacson himself.

The latest, although unofficial, survey on the presidential candidates showed Aquino still ahead with 35 percent of probable voters supporting him, followed by Villar with 28 percent, and Estrada with 23 percent. Teodoro continued to fare poorly, with a mere four percent.

The deadline for the filing of the candidates’ certificates of candidacy, originally set for Nov. 30, has been reset to Dec. 1. This means that if no one challenges Estrada’s presidential bid as being unconstitutional, his name will be placed in the ballots to be printed by the Commission on Elections.

Dec. 1 will also be the date when the followers of Escudero will know of his plans, whether to run or endorse any one of the four major presidential candidates. If he does not run, Escudero remains a senator with three more years left in his first term.

Under Philippine law, any incumbent senator who runs for a higher post like president or vice president and subsequently loses does not forfeit the remainder of his or her unfinished six-year term.

Thus far, only Estrada’s Pwersa had unveiled a complete senatorial line up of 12, but this has been reduced to 11 with Manzano out. The NP has said that it would soon reveal their dozen senatorial candidates, but with anywhere from two to four candidates being “guests” belonging to other parties.

The NP is reportedly finalizing an alliance with the NPC, what with Legarda still being a card-carrying member of the party founded by business tycoon Danding Cojuangco.

The LP has also announced that the party will soon be unveiling the names of their 12 senatorial candidates, on or before the Dec. 1 deadline.

The Lakas-Kampi, however, is mulling having an incomplete slate, with as few as six candidates for senator. Despite having the most number of incumbent elected officials, the administration party has been bogged down by the low popularity ratings of titular head President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who said last week that she was giving up her party post in favor of Teodoro.