Courtship of Grace Poe goes on, says lawmaker

Sen. Grace Poe. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas will continue to reach out to Sen. Grace Poe in the hope of convincing her to be his running mate as the October deadline for the filing of candidacy nears.

This was revealed by Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice who said that Roxas, the presumptive standard-bearer of the administration Liberal Party (LP), was also negotiating with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for his support.

Erice said Roxas and other LP leaders remained confident they could convince Poe to run for Vice President on the administration ticket even after she had expressed reluctance to team up with Roxas because of their different positions on certain policies.

Poe had also hinted that she would be more “comfortable” running with Sen. Francis Escudero, an independent like her.

“They’ve already (Roxas and Poe) met on a few occasions and we expect them to sit down again to talk some more on the details,” said Erice.

“Our assumption right now is that Secretary Mar will be our presidential bet and we are considering as vice president Sen. Grace Poe.”

Erice said that discussions with Poe were strictly high-level.

“To afford due courtesy to Senator Poe, President Aquino, Secretary Mar and Senator Drilon are the only persons in the LP who can talk to her on that matter,” the lawmaker said.

Erice said LP leaders were not putting too much stock on survey results showing Poe as the pacesetter and Roxas among the tail-enders of presidential candidates.

“[S]enators do not have many responsibilities but have a very big exposure, unlike those in the executive [branch] who do their work every day,” he said.

The lawmaker said Aquino had already spoken to Poe twice in the span of one month to explain to her how he implemented reforms and how he handled the resistance to these reforms.

“She (Poe) herself has many questions on the policies of the government. The President’s style is to give her the situation and give her time to discern to decide on her own,” said Erice.

Aside from Poe, Roxas was also talking to Duterte, especially after the latter announced before businessmen last week that he was not interested in running for a higher post in 2016.

“There is now a bigger chance that Mayor Duterte will support Secretary Roxas,” Erice said.

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