MMDA Chair Tolentino mulling Senate run

MMDA chair Francis Tolentino FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY—Will Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino run for senator in the upcoming elections?

Tolentino on Friday declined to give a direct answer but said he was “just waiting for the confirmation of the President.”

Reacting to rumors that he would join the senatorial race under the Liberal Party, Tolentino said: “There is no announcement yet. But I’m studying it.”

“Baka may maitulong din ako (Maybe I can do something to help),” he added in jest.

Alongside LP standard-bearer and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, Tolentino was a guest speaker during the League of Municipalities of the Philippines event at Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City.

“Maybe you’re asking about Leila (de Lima). I’m just fulfilling my role here (in the event),” he said.

Talks are also rife that De Lima will run for a Senate seat in 2016.

It is not the first time Tolentino has been seen with Roxas in a public event. The MMDA chair is a frequent guest in Philippine National Police events which are attended by Roxas.

But Tolentino said it was only by chance that he saw the Department of Interior and Local Government secretary at the LMP event.

“We just saw each other here. We actually went here on separate flights,” he said.

Asked to comment on Tolentino’s possible run for the Senate, Roxas said: “Why not?”

“Pinuri ko siya dahil sa magandang trabaho na pinakita niya at kung mamarapatin at pagpapasyahan ni Chairman Tolentino na nais niyang lumahok sa pagka-Senado, nasa sa kanya na iyon,” Roxas told reporters in a separate interview. Julliane Love de Jesus/RC