ACTING Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is urging Senator Grace Poe to run as an independent candidate and “pursue the vision” of her father, the late Fernando Poe Jr.
“On Fernando Poe Jr.’s birthday, honor his memory by running as an independent and fulfilling his vision to help the poor in this country,” Sotto said in a statement.
The late actor would have turned 76 on Thursday, August 20.
Sotto said Poe running as an independent “would free her from special and political interests and will therefore put her in a better position to fight for the poor, which is what her father would have wanted.”
“I likewise believe that our people would be better served and FPJ’s memory would be better honored if Senator Grace continues the “Bayan and Bida” vision of FPJ,” he said.
Asked if he was urging Poe to run for president next year, Sotto said, “I’m urging her to pursue the vision of her father whose birthday is tomorrow (Thursday).”
Sotto belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), whose members met twice with Poe and Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero to discuss the 2016 elections.
Poe and Escudero are frontrunners in the latest presidential and vice presidential survey, respectively, but both have yet to publicly declare whether or not they would seek a higher post next year.