Poe-Llamanzares torn between 2 parties

Grace Poe-Llamanzares. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) may have announced her inclusion in its senatorial lineup but Grace Poe-Llamanzares’ next move would hinge on President Aquino’s “final decision.”

Llamanzares, the incumbent chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and daughter of the late Fernando Poe Jr., thanked the UNA’s leaders—former President Joseph Estrada, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile—for their support and confidence in her.

Her father had led the opposition and ran against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004 but lost in a controversial election.

“The former President [Estrada] and my father FPJ really go a long way back. I guess [the announcement of her inclusion] wasn’t really unexpected,” she said.

“Nonetheless, their support is rather heartwarming,” she told reporters at the Senate yesterday after the MTRCB presented its budget for 2013 to the committee on finance.

“They know that our objective is the same. Whatever happens, wherever we find ourselves in, it’s only for the good of our countrymen,” she added.

But Llamanzares wouldn’t say if she had made up her mind to run for senator and which group she would run with—President Aquino’s Liberal Party-led coalition or UNA, or both.

“It depends, I’m also waiting for the formal announcement of the President’s coalition,” she said.

“Right now, I’m working for the MTRCB,” she added.

She said it had been some time since she had talked with the President.

“He asked me if I would consider it but he was also rather realistic when he said that it wouldn’t be easy. That’s why I appreciate the President’s honesty about the realities of the election campaign,” Llamanzares said.

No less than Mr. Aquino had announced that the LP would be coalescing with the Nacionalista Party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition.