Sen. Ralph Recto. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
A ranking official of the administration’s Liberal Party (LP) on Tuesday welcomed the possibility of the party adopting Senator Grace Poe to be its standard-bearer or vice presidential bet in the 2016 elections.
“Well, definitely . Ako personally, I’m open to anyone kahit hindi member ng LP. Ang mahalaga ituloy yung programa ng Pangulo,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, vice president of LP, told reporters when asked if Poe is welcomed in the group.
(Well, definitely. Personally, I’m open to anyone even if he/she is not a member of LP. What’s important is the program of the President continues.)
Poe, in an interview Monday, said she herself asked President Benigno Aquino III when they met last week if the LP would support her should she decide to run for a higher post in next year’s elections.
READ: Grace Poe asks: Will LP support me if I run in 2016?
But Recto said that at present, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas remains the LP’s standard-bearer despite his low ranking in various presidential surveys.
“For now, I think he’s the standard-bearer,” said the senator.
But asked about the possibility of a Roxas-Poe or Poe-Roxas tandem, Recto said both were possible.
“Pwedeng Mar-Chiz din…Pwede rin yun siguro, kung pumayag si Chiz,” he added, referring to to Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
(It can be Mar-Chiz too. That’s possible too, if Chiz agrees.)
Poe, Roxas and Escudero though have yet to publicly declare their plans for 2016.
Recto explained that if the next president would come from LP anyway, its members might probably hold key government posts again in the next administration.
“So halimbawa kung hindi presidente si Mar, just in case at maging senador, e di Senate President. Posible. Pwede rin naman na Secretary of Finance kung sakali lang na hindi sya maging pangulo,” he added.
(For example, if Mar isn’t president, just in case he becomes senator, then as Senate President. That’s possible. He can also be Secretary of Finance in case he doesn’t become president). CC
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