Miriam eyes 3 women senators as possible presidential bets

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago sees at least three of her female colleagues in the Senate as possible presidential candidates in 2016.

Asked who would be the possible candidates, Santiago said that Senators Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe and Loren Legarda could all be legitimate contenders.

“Of course it should always come from the Senate because the Senate is said to be the training ground for presidents,” Santiago added.

In the case of Villar, Santiago said the new senator has the financial clout to support a bid for the presidency.

Poe, on the other hand, was number one in the last senatorial elections, which Santiago said automatically puts her in the running for the presidency.

Apart from the female senators, the next female president could also be “somebody who might be making splashes in the House of Representatives or maybe somebody from the level of governor who has done extraordinary things for government.”

“But in any event there is no arguing against the logic of numbers, it is a fact that the United Nations has declared that there are certain Millennium Development Goals that all UN members must strive to achieve and that is gender equality,” Santiago added.

Asked if she is also interested in running for the presidency in 2016, Santiago laughed off the idea but did not reject it outright.

“I wonder whether people are bored with me because I’m bored with myself, so I have to resolve that first,” she said.

“I was not a member of the pork barrel scam, so I don’t have this amount. I never sold my body. I don’t have the money. What I have is the support of the netizens,” she added.

She also reiterated that social media would probably determine the results of the next election and so all of the aspirants must listen to the netizens.

“We are going to see for the first time the collective power of young people as against the traditional politicians and my money is always on the young people,” she noted.