Poe ‘comfortable’ with Escudero as her VP
Need for resources
Asked what his considerations for running in 2016 were, Escudero said the prime consideration for those not born to wealth was to find resources to fund an election campaign.
Asked if he would be willing to be adopted by the LP, he said he would remain an independent and did not want to join any party in the future.
Escudero said it was possible he and Poe would talk seriously about this matter when Congress adjourned sine die next month.
Asked whether President Aquino had talked to him, Escudero said they had not talked about this matter.
Tandem to beat
An LP lawmaker on Monday said that any political combination with Poe in it, whether she would run for President or Vice President, would be the tandem to beat.
In a sign of a seemingly widening split within the LP, Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo said Poe would have an advantage in the 2016 elections, even as other party stalwarts remained steadfast in their support for Roxas.
Quimbo said the voting populace no longer gave as much stock to experience as before, rebutting statements by fellow LP stalwarts, who preferred the veteran Cabinet member to the neophyte senator.
“At this point in time, any combination where Senator Grace is included, regardless of her position, is the team to beat,” Quimbo said in a text message.
Experience not important
He said the neophyte senator “brings a lot to the electoral table.”
“Like what I’ve been saying, she is certainly someone who can continue the gains of [President Aquino’s administration]. She has a great narrative and her reputation for honesty is beyond question,” Quimbo said.
“Voters today don’t give the same value to ‘experience’ the way they used to,” he said.
Rift within LP
Asked about a rift between Roxas and Poe supporters within the LP, Quimbo said it was a matter ultimately up to President Aquino.
“Let me stress first that we in the LP continue to support Mar and hope he will get to lead this nation one day,” he said. “Ultimately, we support who the President believes can continue his difficult reforms.”
Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, the LP’s political affairs chair, said the party was still looking at a Mar-Grace tandem.
“I think there are some groups who are operating to drum up a Grace-Chiz tandem. A Mar-Grace tandem will sideline Senator Chiz so I think there are groups now busy trying to sideline Mar,” he said.
Experience vs popularity
Erice maintained that Roxas’ experience trumped Poe’s popularity and perceived integrity in the minds of most LP members.
“Again, the parameters for a presidential candidate must be integrity, competence and experience. A Mar-Grace team-up shall [help] our country progress to the next level after the reforms initiated by the Aquino administration,” Erice said.
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