Sen. Grace Poe FILE PHOTO
Still without a running mate, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas is set to be named this morning by President Benigno Aquino III as the standard-bearer of the ruling coalition, but some party members are still pushing for Sen. Grace Poe to be Roxas’ running mate.
Roxas will be formally endorsed in an event called “A Gathering of Friends,” which starts at 10.30 a.m., at Club Filipino in San Juan City.
READ: Palace confirms Roxas endorsement, VP candidate unnamed
But Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the Liberal Party (LP) was open to having Poe as its vice presidential candidate.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, LP chair in the Bicol region, said there was no word yet on who would be Roxas’ running mate, but “of course, I am still hoping that Grace Poe will agree to be VP (vice president).”
READ: Recto welcomes possibilty of Poe joining LP
Besides the administration’s LP, the ruling coalition includes such groups as the Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and the party-list group Akbayan.
Budget Secretary Butch Abad said no one would be endorsed Friday as the ruling coalition’s vice presidential candidate.
“I think President Aquino will defer to Secretary Roxas in so far as choosing his running mate is concerned. Secretary Roxas would have to study that carefully. There would be a round of consultations,” Abad said.
For Salceda, a Roxas-Poe tandem is a perfect match as both have the same focus—“good governance.”
Poe, an independent who has yet to announce whether she would run for higher office, is the front-runner among possible presidential candidates, having topped voters’ preference for the next president in recent surveys.
READ: Poe credits ‘honest,’ ‘efficient’ public service for topping recent surveys
Roxas is in third and fourth place in surveys by Social Weathers Stations and Pulse Asia, respectively in June.
Salceda said Mr. Aquino’s endorsement of Roxas would improve the interior secretary’s popularity ratings by three percentage points.
Visit to family’s mausoleum
On the eve of his endorsement as the administration’s standard-bearer in May, Roxas visited the tombs of his late father, Sen. Gerry Roxas, and his late grandfather, former President Manuel Roxas Jr., moments after his meeting with Mr. Aquino.
Roxas went to the family’s mausoleum at the Manila North Cemetery in Quezon City where his brother, the late Capiz Rep. Pinggoy Roxas, was also buried.
“They were also public servants and their reputation was untainted,” Roxas told reporters after joining the earthquake drill at Camp Aguinaldo on Thursday.
READ: LOOK: Roxas visits grandpa, pa’s tomb ahead of endorsement
“They served the country well and I felt the need to (pay them a visit) just to remember the principles that have guided me until today,” he said.
Lucena City Mayor Roderick Alcala, another LP stalwart, said he was also hoping for a Roxas-Poe tandem in 2016.
“I will vouch for Sen. Grace Poe. She’s more than capable. But this is only my personal opinion,” Alcala said when asked who he thought should be Roxas’ running mate.
He said he “believes that he (Roxas) is the right man for the job after President Aquino.”
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the LP wished to give Roxas a free hand in choosing his running mate “because it is important that they should be comfortable with each other.”
“It could either come from our own ranks in the LP or from our coalition partners, or even from outside, provided he or she embraces the need for continuity of President Aquino’s policies and programs,” Evardone said.
Escudero, Cayetano, Robredo
Thus, “we are not yet discounting Senators Grace Poe or Chiz Escudero. The same [is true] with [Senators Alan Peter] Cayetano, [Antonio] Trillanes [IV], and [Camarines Sur Rep. Leni] Robredo, among others,” Evardone said.
Abad said Roxas may not ask Poe to be his running mate.
“Knowing Sec Mar, he may not find it respectful for him to relegate Senator Poe to be a Vice Presidential candidate since she is [touted] to be among the presidentiables,” the budget secretary said.
On commentaries that Roxas has no fighting chance in May, Abad said all of these were premature because the reckoning should come in May.
“[Today] would be the only time that Sec Mar will publicly tell the world that he is available to run for president. And [today] will be the time when he will be endorsed by the President as his choice as the administration coalition candidate.”
Go signal given
Salceda was attending the meeting of the core group supporting the presidential bid of Roxas in Manila on Wednesday when he got a call from the latter that the President had “given the go signal” or will officially anoint him as the LP standard-bearer.
The Albay governor said the formal announcement would be made in a convention of LP members, mostly governors, congressmen, city and town mayors.
He said Roxas would be expected to resign soon from the Department of the Interior and Local Governments to concentrate on his campaign and party building.
Salceda said that based on his discussion with Roxas and the others in the Balay group, or the pro-Roxas group in Malacañang, he would be “making robust inputs to the national campaign” aside from being regional LP chair in Bicol.
After the endorsement on Friday, some 1,000 LP members will congregate on Tuesday next week at the Gloria Maris. This would be followed by a meeting with the governors. On the same day, Roxas is scheduled to meet leaders of civil society organizations.
Local officials in the Visayas welcomed the President’s expected endorsement of Roxas and vowed to work and ensure his victory in the 2016 presidential election.
“We will do everything that we can to help him win,” said Roxas City Mayor Alan Celino.
Celino said the people of the city were jubilant that one of their own would be endorsed by Mr. Aquino as the administration’s presidential candidate.
He said it was their pride to have Roxas run for the presidency.
Large Negros delegation
Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. will lead a large delegation of Negros Occidental officials, attending the President’s formal anointing of Roxas as the LP standard-bearer.
Marañon said he always maintained that the President would choose Roxas as the LP standard-bearer because he was the most qualified.
Joining Marañon are Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer (Negros Occidental, 4th District), and mayors, board members and other supporters of Roxas in the province.
Vice Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson of the NPC, who is also a Roxas supporter said “Mar is prepared to be the next president of the republic. Competency and integrity are key traits that we should be looking for.” NPC is a member of the ruling coalition.
Guiuan town Christopher Sheen Gonzales, NP chair in Eastern Samar province, said that even if he belongs to NP, he would support Roxas for the presidency.
He said Roxas has the qualities to become the president considering his vast experience in the government. “He has helped us a lot during (Supertyphoon) ‘Yolanda’ and (Typhoon) ‘Ruby.’ I am just paying our debt of gratitude,” he said.
Leyte Vice Gov. Carlo Loreto, brother of Health Secretary Janette Garin, said Mr. Aquino made a good decision in selecting Roxas, who he said, had many achievements.
Reactions nationwide
Billy Roseno, LP coordinator for Eastern Visayas, said Roxas “is the best choice the Liberal Party can offer to the Filipino people.”
“Among the presidential aspirants, he is a complete package. He has the integrity, competence and experience. Others were weighed but were found wanting,” he said.
Boy Pernia, political officer of Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, said Mr. Aquino’s endorsement of Roxas was expected.
In Pangasinan, Rep. Jesus Celeste, a member of the NPC, said he would abide by the party’s decision. But his brother, Alaminos City Mayor Celeste, also an NPC member, said he had doubts that the party would support Roxas.
Bayambang Mayor Ricardo Camacho said he was happy about Mr. Aquino’s decision to endorse Roxas.
“I’ve been supporting the President’s ‘matuwid na daan’ (straight path governance) and Interior Secretary Roxas is the right person to ensure its continuity,” said Camacho, who is not affiliated with any party.
He said Roxas performed well as the DILG head.
In Bulacan, Guiguinto Mayor Ambrosio Cruz said he and 16 other Bulacan mayors would join Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado in taking their oath as LP members on Friday.
Cruz said they agreed to support whomever the President and the LP leadership would endorse as standard-bearer.
No choice
Fr. Edwin Lusterio, director of Family Life Ministry in Laguna, said Mr. Aquino “has no choice but to anoint Roxas because the LP would be divided if he doesn’t. But if he is free to choose, Grace Poe would be better.”
“Roxas has no issue on corruption and his family in Capiz is rich. Hence, he is a good choice. His only issue is that his mother is an Araneta and [does] not live in the province,” said Jerry Distor of San Pedro City.
Norman Novio, a Mindoro-based blogger, said Mr. Aquino’s endorsement of Roxas would “mean nothing if the coalition will be divided.” Reports from Mar S. Arguelles, Delfin Mallari Jr., Michael B. Jaucian, Romulo Ponte, Juan Escandor Jr. and Madonna T. Virola, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Vincent Cabreza, Yolanda Sotelo and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon; and Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon; Carla P. Gomez, Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Leo Udtohan and Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas; DJ Yap in Manila