Mar-Poe pushed by Liberals
A RANKING official of the ruling Liberal Party revealed Sunday that a tandem featuring Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Senator Grace Poe is in the works for the 2016 presidential elections.
LP stalwart Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice said no less than the “three LP bigwigs” – President Benigno Aquino III, Roxas and Senate President Franklin Drilon -- were talking to Poe to convince her to run as Roxas’ running mate.
and Senator Grace Poe are all smiles during a recent meeting in
the Senate.
Erice said the Roxas-Poe tandem was a result of the LP’s requirement for choosing its standard bearer based on integrity, competence and experience, not ratings.
“The President is now talking to Senator Poe. Our assumption is that she is being considered as Mar’s vice president,” Erice said in an interview on radio dzBB.
“It’s a high-level talk. The only ones who could afford due courtesy to Senator Poe are President Aquino, Secretary Mar and Senator Drilon. Secretary Mar already talked to Senator Poe. No one else from the party would be able to discuss important issues like the tandem but the three LP bigwigs,” Erice said.
“The leaders of the Liberal Party are one in mind and heart that no one else could continue the reforms spearheaded by the President through the straight path and bring them to the next level of obtaining progress for the country but Secretary Mar Roxas,” Erice said.
“The talks are being done because once the President has made his choice, it will follow that he would also make choices for other positions such as vice president, [and] senators, so there is an ongoing process of selecting candidates,” Erice told dzBB.
Told that Roxas was trailing and that Poe was topping the surveys, Erice said the LP was not about to be swayed by ratings as a basis for choosing its standard bearer.
“The surveys and ratings depend on the mood of the day, like who is the darling of the media or who is campaigning or who has already pushed infomercials, then their ratings shoot up,” he said.
He cited as a “perfect example” the case of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who was nowhere to be found in the surveys but whose rating shot up when he began touring the country and showing informercials.
“It’s easy to raise your standing in the surveys,” he said.
In the case of Poe, Erice said her popularity was helped by her exposure in the Senate, even though she didn’t have many responsibilities compared to the President.
“It is for this reason that the biggest considerations in choosing the party standard bearer are the three traits that are not allowed to separate – integrity, competence and experience. Secretary Mar has these traits,” Erice pointed said.
Erice said the President has not formally invited Poe to be the party’s vice president just yet.
He said the President has met her so that he could explain to Poe what the administration was doing and how he wanted the reforms to get sustained. He added that by filling Poe in on the situation, he was giving her the chance to discern and decide on her own.
“The ball is now in the President’s court. We are waiting for what he promised--that he would announce his choice of a standard bearer of the party and of the coalition after the State Of The Nation Address,” Erice said.
No comments:
Post a Comment