In the Senate, depending on who’s talking, Duterte’s withdrawal declaration would benefit any of the three known presidential aspirants.
Before stepping out of the Inquirer office after a three-hour roundtable discussion with reporters and editors on Aug. 25, Duterte was asked who among presidential aspirants he thought would benefit should he withdraw from the race.
Duterte said, “Binay.” He did not say why. Duterte then was mum on his opinions about Binay, saying he would rather not say anything about the Vice President.
He insisted that he and Binay had never had a serious discussion on plans for the 2016 elections even if the Vice President during his sorties in Davao had hinted that his camp had been eyeing him as his running mate.
Sen. Grace Poe would be a beneficiary, according to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who based his fearless forecast on the latest nationwide survey of his Magdalo group, which tested different poll scenarios, including a three-way race among Poe, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.
The bulk of the votes in such a race-44.8 percent-would go to Poe. Binay would get 28.9 percent and Roxas, 22.6 percent, he said. “That’s the voter preference,” said Trillanes, who is planning to seek the vice presidency as an independent.
The Magdalo group has pledged to campaign for Poe should she announce her 2016 candidacy.
Trillanes said Poe should cut some slack, following criticism stemming from her position on the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) rally against Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, after a criminal complaint was filed against the sect’s leaders.
Earlier, Poe said that the INC followers were defending their faith, and that she respected that. They also have to protect their rights, she said. Trillanes believed Poe’s statement was “overblown.”
Good for Roxas
Senate President Franklin Drilon said Duterte’s withdrawal would be good for Roxas, the Liberal Party’s (LP) standard-bearer. “The field is now down to three… it’s better. We are the administration. You will have two representing the opposition,” he said.
Asked whether Duterte’s exit will be favorable for Roxas, the LP vice president said, “Certainly.”
The ruling party will be presenting the administration’s policy of “daang matuwid” to the people, Drilon said. “We are the administration and we will defend the policy.”
On the possibility that the LP was interested in getting Duterte to be Roxas’ running mate, Drilon said that the party had not discussed it.
With Roxas scheduled to meet with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) of businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco yesterday, he said the LP hoped to align with the NPC in the 2016 presidential race.
“The NPC is a very valuable ally in 2013 and we want to continue that in 2016,” he said.
While Duterte’s statement about leaving politics appeared to be categorical, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said the mayor’s friends noted that it was his “style” to decide on the last day of the filing of the certificate of candidacy-scheduled on Oct. 16.
“We’re hopeful he will reconsider. My friends in Davao tell me that this has happened before where he had a last-minute change of mind,” Pimentel, the PDP-Laban president, told reporters. His party would continue to pray and hope that Duterte would reconsider, said Pimentel. “Never say die until Oct. 16, 2015,” he said.