SENATOR Grace Poe remains the “best option for vice president” of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, a Liberal Party (LP) stalwart said on Wednesday.
And to settle this issue once and for all, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the LP should formally invite Poe to become Roxas’ running mate in 2016.
“I think she’s the best option for vice president. There has to be an invitation to formally settle this thing once and for all,” he told reporters after attending a Senate budget hearing.
While Roxas had already invited Poe on national television to become his running mate next year, the two have yet to discuss the matter formally.
Abad’s statement came after the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) met Tuesday night with Poe and Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, the frontrunners in the latest Pulse Asia survey for president and vice president, respectively.
The NPC being headed by businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco is a member of the LP-led administration coalition.
But Abad said the LP need not worry about the meeting as the “season of ligawan (courting)” has started.
“I don’t think that anybody would take that against them. They can get invited, they can invite, I mean it’s their prerogative as a political party,” he said.
Asked if the LP and NPC would remain a coalition, Abad said, “It’s still subsisting but we’ll know in October when all the horses are in their respective places so then all the parties will have to make a choice.”
“In fact, we don’t even know if Senator Poe has made up her mind to run for a higher position,” he added.
Asked again if the LP remains confident to get the NPC to support Roxas, Abad answered yes, noting that in politics, “many things can still happen.”