Aquino endorsement will improve Roxas’ chances in 2016–Drilon

PRESIDENT Aquino and Senate President Franklin Drilon MALACAÑANG PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino’s endorsement would propel Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II’s ratings and make him a viable administration candidate in 2016.

“I would like to think it will,’’ Senate President Franklin Drilon, ruling party leader, answered when asked if the President’s anointment would raise Roxas’ flagging ratings in opinion polls.

“The endorsement of the President… whoever he will endorse will benefit,’’ he told reporters in an ambush interview after a forum at the Diamond Hotel.

Roxas, the presumptive Liberal Party presidential candidate in 2016, has lagged behind Vice President Jejomar Binay in the surveys. He has been skeptical of survey results.

In a June 24 to July 2 Pulse Asia survey on the top choice for president, Roxas ended up last with 7 percent behind Binay’s 41 percent, Sen. Grace Poe’s 12 percent, and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada’s 9 percent.

The President has yet to announce his choice, but most party members preferred Roxas to be the standard-bearer, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in June.

Without naming anybody, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, another party stalwart, said a presidential endorsement would be an advantage for the administration candidate.

“An endorsement from a popular and an indisputably incorruptible president is a huge advantage for any candidate running for President,’’ Abad said in a text message.

Aquino actively campaigned for Roxas, then his running mate, in the 2010 election. But while Aquino won handily, Roxas  lost to Binay.

The 2016 presidential election is seen as a possible re-run of the bitter rivalry between Binay, who has announced plans to run for president, and Roxas.

Roxas will carry the standard for the Liberal Party, party acting president Transportation Secretary Joseph E. A. Abaya said in March.

Drilon, LP vice chair, announced in January 2013 that Roxas would be the party’s standard bearer in 2016.

A party member in the House of Representatives, however, disputed observations that the LP was solidly behind Roxas, saying some party members were lukewarm to Roxas.

“They’re looking for someone winnable,’’ said the lawmaker, who asked not to be identified by nam.

Meanwhile, Drilon quashed any talk of a possible team-up between Binay and Roxas in the 2016 presidential election.

“We never talk about it. We have our own process in the party, and that is the process that we will follow. We have not discussed that. And ultimately, as I said, the President’s views on this matter will greatly influence the decision of the party,’’ he said. “At this point, I have not heard of any member of the party proposing that (team-up with Binay).’’

And neither is the party talking about adopting Binay as its candidate, Drilon said.

Binay had earlier said he was open to the idea of having Roxas as his running mate. Roxas shot this down, claiming that the United Nationalist Alliance’s agenda ran counter to the party’s.