President Benigno Aquino III and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas (left). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–President Aquino met with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the presumptive presidential candidate of the Liberal Party, and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad on Friday, the Inquirer learned.
The lunch meeting was apparently an offshoot of the President’s meeting with Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero on Thursday, according to the Inquirer source who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak to the media.
Roxas, in a statement, said that as a Cabinet member, he considered the meeting with the President as “privileged conversation.”
“With due respect and deference to the President who has yet to speak on the matter, I will not discuss the details of my meeting with the President and Sec. Butch Abad this lunchtime. However, I am confident that what we have been working on for the past five years and the continuity of the reforms that have brought unprecedented benefits to our people remain paramount in the President’s mind. This consideration will define his choice in 2016,” Roxas said. AU