Grace Poe not surprised

By: Christine O. Avendaño - 9 years ago

Senator Grace Poe. INQUIRER.net PHOTO

Sen. Grace Poe on Wednesday said she would not be surprised if President Benigno Aquino III endorsed Interior Secretary Mar Roxas as his presidential candidate in next year’s elections.

READ: Aquino set to anoint Roxas on Friday – LP exec

Poe, who is believed to be running for President with Sen. Francis Escudero as her running mate in 2016, told reporters she had no more scheduled meetings with the President after a series of meetings with him and Escudero this month.

“I won’t be surprised if our President endorses Secretary Mar, because in the first place, they are party mates. But the President always said he would understand that all of us should do what we believe would be best for the country,” Poe said.

“So whatever the decision of the President, I know he has a reason for it. I am thankful that he had considered me if ever,” she said.

No decision

Asked whether it meant she was no longer expecting Mr. Aquino’s endorsement, Poe said that it would be “difficult to expect because it would also be difficult to be disappointed.”

She stressed she had not made a decision on whether she would seek higher office next year, even if Escudero had already said he was seriously considering such possibility.

Poe, who had topped recent presidential surveys, said that she continued to consider whether she would be able to seek higher office and whether this would be good for the people.

Poe also made it clear that President Aquino had never directly told her he wanted her to be Roxas’ running mate.

“He only said we should be together,” she said.

Poe said she was able to speak to the President at State of the Nation Address in Congress on Monday.

She said they only talked about “governance” but she declined to elaborate.

“But the President said something nice—because I told him it was possible we will have a different path or journey—but he said, ‘In the end we will still be together,’ or something like that.”