For Speaker, Cayetano still better choice

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Sunday renewed his push for Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to be the running mate of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party (LP).

Belmonte, Liberal Party vice chair, said he agreed with Senate President Franklin Drilon, who has given up hope that Sen. Grace Poe would agree to be Roxas’ running mate.

“I myself agree with Drilon that Senator Grace and her tandem with Senator [Francis] Escudero is a go. There are many indications that they are already putting together a campaign staff,” Belmonte said in a radio interview.

He said it was time the LP “put it out in the open” and admitted that an alliance with Poe—the front-runner in most presidential preference surveys—would not push through.

“We should not make it an excuse not to come up with other names,” Belmonte said.

But, ultimately, it will be Roxas who will decide who should run with him on the LP ticket, he said.

“It is his campaign. It is his administration-to-be that we are talking about. Once he proposes some names, then we can take a look,” Belmonte said.

Belmonte said his push for Cayetano was personal. Earlier, he said he liked Cayetano for being a “fighter,” unlike most others in the LP who were “too nice.”—DJ Yap