Roxas or Poe, Belmonte assures LP coalition unity

SPEAKER Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday said the Liberal Party (LP) would remain “cohesive” as it pondered whom the administration would field as its standard-bearer in the 2016 presidential election.

Asked if the party’s candidate should only be either Interior Secretary Mar Roxas or Sen. Grace Poe, Belmonte replied: “Yeah.” He did not elaborate.

 ‘Super well prepared’

On talk that party members are divided on whom to support between Roxas, the presumptive standard-bearer, or Poe, the survey front-runner, Belmonte said, “At this stage of the game where nobody has been chosen … the field is still open.”

Belmonte said he had no intention of leaving the party if it chose Roxas.

He described Poe as a “good candidate” and Roxas “super well prepared to take over the presidency.”

“But at this stage of the game, I don’t like to say anything. Let us just wait when it’s there and definitely, I don’t see any schism in the Liberal Party,” Belmonte said.

He said the party would support a single candidate for President, the one chosen by President Aquino.

Also talking to Chiz

“I think it is not unreasonable for various LP members to entertain all sorts of ideas but the important thing is that once a decision in the right processes has taken place, that they are behind it and I have no doubt that they will be,” Belmonte said.

The Speaker said that even Sen. Francis Escudero should not be counted out yet because “they are also talking to him.”

Belmonte told the Inquirer that the President’s consultations with Poe appeared to be a “work in progress.”

He said that as far as congressmen were concerned, “our coalition is very intact.”

He dismissed reports that some party members were unhappy. “I would like to say that there is no basis for such statement. I think we are all working as a team,” Belmonte said.

He recalled that he and Senate President Franklin Drilon told Mr. Aquino last week that they were supportive of his consultations with Poe.

“He did say that ‘I hope you guys are behind me on my efforts to resolve this matter and both Drilon and myself said yeah we are behind you,’” Belmonte said, quoting the President.