LP should give up on Grace, pick another VP bet – Drilon

MANILA, Philippines - With Sen. Grace Poe seeming to have made up her mind on her presidential plans, the ruling Liberal Party (LP) should now look for another vice presidential candidate in the 2016 elections, Senate President Franklin Drilon advised his partymates yesterday.

“In my view, Senator Grace Poe is already a candidate for president. The writings are on the wall. She will run,” said Drilon, also party chairman.

Since being anointed by President Aquino as the standard bearer of the LP last July, Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II and many members of the party have been trying to persuade Poe to join them as the party’s vice presidential candidate.

Drilon said he would ask the LP’s acting president,  Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, to convene the party’s National Executive Council as soon as possible to pick a running mate for Roxas.

Poe, who has been leading the surveys on voter preferences for president, was viewed as a viable running mate for Roxas because of her popularity, as well as the fact that she was part of the LP-led coalition during the 2013 senatorial election.

However, Poe has not responded to the overtures of the LP and has instead aired her preference to have Sen. Francis Escudero as her running mate if ever she decides to run for higher office next year.

She has also accused the LP of being behind questions raised about her citizenship and qualifications for high office, at one point openly urging Roxas to “show leadership” and stop his partymates.

Drilon said he saw Poe’s recent actions as a clear indication that she is running for higher office.

“First of all, she has been going around, making speeches to various schools and organizations. You would not be doing that if you were not a candidate. It is not easy to go around,” Drilon said.

Roxas was initially allowed by the LP to choose his running mate but now that the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy is fast approaching, Drilon said the party should now take action.

“With the deadline drawing near, I believe we have to help Secretary Roxas in coming up with a complete ticket. Based on the constitution of the LP, the NECO can nominate, of course, we will consult Secretary Roxas,” Drilon said.

Asked who he had in mind as possible running mates of Roxas, Drilon said that Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV are all viable options, Drilon said.

But he added taking in either Cayetano or Trillanes would necessitate LP’s coalescing with the Nacionalista Party (NP) to which the two senators belong.

“They (NECO) cannot possibly nominate them because they are not LP. But that means we will coalesce with the other parties,” he said.

Cayetano previously stated that while he was interested in the presidency, he was open to running for vice president.

Trillanes thanked Drilon for considering him as possible running mate of Roxas but stressed he wished to run for vice president as independent. “Also, I already personally informed Sec. Mar that our Magdalo group will support Senator Grace Poe’s candidacy for president,” Trillanes said.

On reports that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is also being considered as a possible running mate of Roxas, Drilon said that as far as he is concerned, the DOJ chief “is a candidate for the Senate.”

Of the four mentioned by Drilon, Robredo was viewed by many as the best option for the LP because of her good reputation.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III earlier stated that Robredo, packaged properly, could beat anyone for the vice presidency, including Escudero.

Santos-Recto has repeatedly stated that she is no longer interested in running for public office once she steps down as governor next year.

Poe ‘not worth it’

LP stalwart Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice said

the party is no longer keen on Poe as she has “strayed from the straight path.”

Erice said Poe showed her unworthiness to be the administration’s vice presidential candidate after she issued statements in support of the Iglesia ni Cristo’s (INC) street protests against De Lima.

“Her statements on the INC were ill-advised, and smacks of politicking. She’s playing with fire,” he said.

“It’s time for us to face the fact that Sen. Grace is laying out her own path that is not in consonance with the dreams of the Aquino administration,” he said.

He said Poe was also a “turnoff” when she made a promise to initiate the building of an international airport in Pangasinan.

But some leaders the House of Representatives denounced what they said were attempts to discourage Poe from running for president in 2016.

Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza, secretary general of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), said “it was clear those behind the mudslinging are those whose presidential candidate is rating poorly in the surveys.”

“We all know who they are. After claiming that they’re wooing, courting her (Poe), they are also stabbing her in the back. Are these the kind of people we want to continue running the government?” Mendoza told The STAR.

He did not name names but he was apparently referring to LP.

The NPC, the second largest political party in the country, is expected to support Poe instead of Roxas despite being part of the administration coalition. Poe has been faring well in the presidential and vice presidential surveys.

Mendoza cited as anti-Poe efforts the filing of citizenship and residency cases against the senator as well as the purported LP-commissioned survey that covered only Roxas and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, a stalwart of the NPC and a senatorial aspirant, said he was puzzled by the supposed LP poll, which was announced by Erice, a Roxas ally.

Gatchalian said he finds it strange that Erice did not give details of the supposed survey.

“That survey does not have any bearing because there are no details and why would you exclude a prospective candidate (Poe) who’s been consistently topping surveys?” he said.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, leader of the independent bloc and who is among those considered to be in Poe’s senatorial slate, said the treatment of Poe “is classic LP.”

“If we can’t have you, we’ll destroy you,” Romualdez said, adding it was the same tactic employed by the administration against Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, as well as former chief justice Renato Corona.

“Because their candidate (Roxas) is so weak, their game plan is to destroy all opposition,” he said.

“They were jilted (by Poe), so they’re vengeful.”

He added the supposed LP survey was an attempt at mind-conditioning to make voters think that Poe is no longer in the race.