Poe would make good partner for Roxas, says Drilon

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Senator Grace Poe. FILE PHOTOS

Can Liberal Party presidential bet Mar Roxas win without Sen. Grace Poe as his running mate?

Senate President Franklin Drilon, LP vice chair, said that Sen. Grace Poe would make a good partner for LP standard bearer and Interior Secretary Roxas. At the same time, Roxas will also work to improve his chances of victory in the race for the presidency, Drilon added.

“Mar will build up his strength as a presidential candidate,” Drilon told reporters on Thursday when asked if Roxas could win without Poe.

Poe is the current survey topnotcher on voters’ preferred candidate for the presidency as well as the vice presidency. She has been the only one to overtake Vice President Jejomar Binay, the former topnotcher for the presidential race.

Roxas, on the other hand, has ranked either third or fourth in the surveys for the presidency, though his supporters believe the President’s endorsement would boost his numbers.

Poe is considering seeking higher office in 2016, but has yet to make her final decision.

Roxas, President Aquino’s preferred successor, is wooing her to be his vice presidential candidate.

Drilon said Poe’s teamup with Roxas would ensure the continuation of good programs for the country.

He also noted that she has been an ally of the administration and has been supportive of it in the Senate.

“We find in Grace Poe somebody who can support the reforms that this administration has been pushing and which we wish to continue in the next administration,” he said.

While Poe said she was open to meeting with Roxas, she was said to be considering running for president herself.

She earlier said she was “comfortable” running with Sen. Francis Escudero.

On the other hand, a strong vice presidential candidate does not always guarantee victory for a standard bearer. In 1992, Joseph Estrada ran for vice president as the running mate of Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. under the Nationalist People’s Coalition. Estrada won the vice presidency but Cojuangco lost the top slot to Former Armed Forces chief of staff Fidel Ramos.