Poe, Escudero continue NPC consultations
As the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) continues to meet with Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero, a party spokesperson said the group may reach a decision on whom to support in 2016 in two to three weeks.
NPC members, mostly mayors and representatives, met for the third time with Poe and Escudero at its clubhouse on Thursday, where the birthday of the party’s secretary general, Batangas Rep. Mark Mendoza, was celebrated.
Poe and Escudero may be invited to another gathering with party members next week.
“I guess after all these consultations, then we could come out with a set consensus and then probably in the next two, three weeks, maybe we can come out with that final decision,” Rep. Mark Enverga told reporters on Thursday.
Poe and Escudero are considering running for higher office in 2016, but have yet to announce their decision.
Senior NPC members have said that there are many within the party who are inclined to support a ticket with the two senators, should they decide to run.
But Enverga said Thursday that there were party members who were for Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Interior Secretary Mar Roxas or Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Unlike Poe and Escudero, Roxas and Binay have not been invited to any of the NPC gatherings.
Roxas earlier met with several NPC members, but it was he who had invited the party members.
Enverga said Roxas may still be invited later as it would be good to have a follow-up discussion with the LP standard bearer to hear his platform of government.
Roxas is trying to convince Poe to be his running mate, but she has not been receptive to his offer.
Poe leads the voter preference surveys for both presidential and vice presidential positions, and some sectors have been urging her to seek the presidency.
She has been recently visiting the vote-rich provinces like Cebu and Pangasinan, where she spoke before mostly young audiences.
Poe said Thursday that what she saw in her sorties was not really a clamor for her to run, but her audiences’ desire to find an ally or somebody they could depend on.
“I think that is what really warms the heart, that they are comfortable or confident in telling me what we need to fight for,” she told reporters.
As for the NPC, Poe said she feels very much at home with the party, as it had worked with her father, the late movie star Fernando Poe Jr. who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004.
“Of course when I’m here with the NPC, I feel like a part of a family because I’ve known them for a while since they’ve been with my father,” she said.
