Senator Grace Poe said Wednesday she would not be surprised if President Benigno Aquino III will endorse Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas as the administration’s bet in 2016.
After all, Poe said, Aquino and Roxas belong to one political group, the Liberal Party (LP).
“Alam mo hindi naman ako magtataka kung ang e-endorso ng ating Pangulo ay si Secretary Mar. Unang-una, kapartido nya yun,” she told reporters when asked about the impending endorsement of the President’s bet anytime this week.
(You know, I won’t be surprised if the President will endorse Secretary Mar. First of all, they are party mates.)
“Pero ang palagi din namang sinasabi ng Pangulo sa akin ay naiintindihan nya na lahat kami ay kailangang gawin namin kung ano ang inaakala namin ang makakabuti sa bansa so kung ano man ang desisyon ng Pangulo, alam ko may mga kadahilanan sya dun. Ako pa rin ay nagpapasalamat na ako ay nakonsidera kung saka-sakali,” she said.
(But the President has been telling me that he understands that we all have to do what we think is good for our country so whatever is the decision of the President, I know that he has his own reasons . I’m still thankful that he has considered me.)
The senator had met with the President several times to talk about the 2016 elections.
But in all those meetings, Poe said Aquino did not directly offer her to become Roxas’ running mate and did not also even ask if she would run for president next year.
Both Poe and Roxas have not yet publicly declared whether or not they would run for president though the latter is being pushed by LP to be its standard-bearer in 2016. Poe, on the other hand, emerged to be the voters’ top choice based on the latest Pulse Asia survey.
Asked if she was still expecting to get the President’s endorsement should she decide to run for president, Poe said: “Mahirap kasing mag-expect kasi mahirap din namang ma-disappoint. (It’s hard to expect because you also don’t want to be disappointed.)”
“Kaya para sa akin ang ginagawa kong batayan ay ang sarili kong pananaw ukol dito kung makakayanan ko ba ito at mga paghahanda na tama para dito at kung makabubuti ito sa ating mga kababayan,” she added. AU