Presidential aspirant and Senator Grace Poe and Senator Francis Escudero. Photo courtesy of Senator Grace Poe’s Office
The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the second biggest political party in the country, has formally endorsed the candidacy of presidential candidate Grace Poe and vice presidential bet Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
NPC president and Deputy Speaker Giorgidi Aggabao said that 90 percent of the members of the party founded by business Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco voted to choose Poe and Escudero as the party’s standard-bearers.
READ: NPC head: 80 percent of members for Poe, Escudero
Both Poe and Escudero are running as independent candidates under the “Partido Galing at Puso.” Escudero used to be a member of NPC until he quit in 2009. NPC has 4,129 candidates running in the upcoming elections in May.
At a press conference, Aggabao said that majority of the members chose Poe and Escudero because of their platform of inclusivity and intention to build on gains rather than accept the status quo.
READ: Poe, Escudero finally get NPC’s endorsement
“The party feels that in these past decades of division and partisanship, these candidates represent the best hope for a unified push for sustainable development. We believe that true progress can only be made if glass ceilings can be shattered and only if every Filipino will come to know that he or she can aspire to and become all that he or she hopes to be,” he said.
NPC also vetted other presidential candidates such as Vice President Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte before settling on Poe.
Batangas Rep. and NPC secretary-general Mark Mendoza said that the NPC also considered other vice presidential bets including Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. but the majority went for Escudero.
Aggabao expected all NPC members to toe the line, including Cojuangco’s son, former Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco who has openly campaigned for Binay.
He said that the members decided to come out with its endorsement even before the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled on Poe’s citizenship and residency cases to show their oneness with the presidential candidate on the strength of her case.
Aggabao said that the NPC endorsement has not yet been factored in the surveys.
He said he expected Poe’s survey ranking would go through the roof once the SC erased all doubts on her qualification to run for president.
“Tapos na ang boxing (The boxing is over),” said Aggabao. RAM
