Presidential aspirant and Senator Grace Poe. Photo courtesy of Senator Grace Poe’s Office
The Katipunan political party on Sunday endorsed the presidential candidacy of Grace Poe, saying the country’s top post is the neophyte senator’s “destiny.”
“Her rise to power is providential. She is a providential candidate,” said party president and Manila Councilor Joel Par. “Unlike the other candidates who prepared to seek the presidency, Senator Poe never prepared for that office.”
“Instead, it’s the other way around. It’s the presidency that sought [Senator Poe] the way it sought our other good Presidents, President Cory [Aquino] and President Noynoy [Aquino],” Par said as he highlighted the “necropolitics” behind their rise to power.
Par said the death of Cory’s husband, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., propelled her to power, the same way her death propelled her son to power. With Poe, the death of her father Fernando Poe Jr. in 2004 prompted her to return to the Philippines for good.
The Katipunan Party, or the Katipuan ng Kalayaang Kayumanggi (KKK), which claims 120,000 to 150,000 members, announced its choice during a national convention at the Philippine Columbian Association building in Manila on Sunday morning.
Par said it took them five months to decide as their members were torn between Poe and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. But after much “discernment,” he said, they decided to go for Poe, who they believed was a “unifier.”
“If [Vice President Jejomar] Binay becomes President, he will definitely go after his political foes and file cases against them. The same will happen if Mar wins. As with Mayor [Rodrigo] Duterte, you know the presidency offers vast powers, and we can’t afford to have someone so impulsive like Mayor Duterte,” he said.
Poe’s son Brian Llamanzares accepted the endorsement and thanked the relatively new party for its support. He said he would represent his mother because she was currently out of town.
The Katipunan also endorsed four senatorial candidates—Isko Moreno Domagoso, Richard Gordon, Joel Villanueva and Aldin Ali, the lone Maranao candidate.
Par, who was allied to Domagoso, said choosing Poe had nothing to do with his political ties with the current vice mayor of Manila.
“We chose them based on our advocacies such as antipolitical dynasty and the swift passage of the freedom of information bill,” he said.
About 500 people attended the two-year-old party’s national assembly. Most of them were indigenous people and “ordinary” people “tired” of traditional politics.
“We came together because we all wanted alternative choices. We’re tired of traditional politicians,” he said.
After endorsing Poe and the senatorial candidates, the party discussed how it could help its chosen candidates to win the election.