Sen. Grace Poe. FILE PHOTO
MANILA Philippines – As her rating goes up in the survey, the more Senator Grace Poe becomes “worried” about running for president in 2016.
From 10 percent in September, Poe’s rating jumped to 18 percent in the latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from November 14 to 20. She ranked second, next to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has publicly announced his presidential bid.
“Actually sa totoo lang mas lalo akong nababahala e (I’m more worried now),” the lady senator told reporters when asked if she is now encouraged to join the presidential race in view of her rising poll rating.
“Kasi ang trabahong yan ay hindi biro. Hindi yan para sa hindi handa… (That job is no joke. It’s not meant for the unprepared), ” she said.
At this point, Poe said she was more comfortable to the mandate that was given to her by the electorate when she topped the 2013 senatorial race.
“Para sabihin na mas maeenganyo ako , hindi ko masasabi dahil sa ngayon mas lalo lang akong napapaisip at nababahala na sa tingin ko marami pa akong dapat na matutunan,” she further said.
(I don’t find this encouraging; now it’s putting me into a lot of thinking and worries because I still need to learn more.)
Like her father, the late Fernando Poe Jr., the senator pointed out that she also had no political machinery to speak of, no political group to rely on and no experience to launch a nationwide presidential campaign.
The late actor ran but lost to former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 2010 presidential race.
Senator Poe also said she fears that her supporters might turned their backs on her once she finally decides to join the presidential derby, just what like happened to her father’s 2004 presidential run.
She denied discussing the 2016 elections with President Benigno Aquino III when she attended the Liberal Party’s Christmas Party last week.