LP told: Forget Grace Poe, move on

She is a lost cause so let’s just get on with it.

Sen. Grace Poe has given all indications that she will be the rival of administration standard-bearer Interior Secretary Mar Roxas for the presidency in 2016, so the Liberal Party (LP) should already stop trying to recruit her as Roxas’ running mate, Senate President Franklin Drilon said.

“In my view, Grace Poe is already a candidate for President. So, you know, the writing is on the wall. She will run,” Drilon told reporters on Friday.

The LP should look for another partner for Roxas, said Drilon, the party’s vice chair.

Though Poe’s line has been that she is still making up her mind whether to run for higher office in 2016, Drilon is convinced that, judging from her recent actions, she will seek the presidency in 2016.

“First, she has been going around making speeches to various schools and organizations. You would not do that if you would not be a candidate. It’s not easy to go around,” he said.

Though Drilon did not mention it, there have also been TV advertisements featuring snapshots of Poe at work. The commercial uses the same song featured in the advertisements of her late father, Fernando Poe Jr., when he ran for President in 2004.

Roxas and some LP leaders have been wooing Poe, who has been topping the voter preference surveys, to be Roxas’ running mate.

But Poe has been lukewarm to the overtures, and has said besides that she is more comfortable teaming up with Sen. Francis Escudero, who is a likely candidate for Vice President.

To announce next week?

In Iloilo City yesterday, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV told a news conference that Poe would announce her bid for the presidency next week, but declined to say how he came by such information.

“I know for a fact that she is running for President. I’m inside. Off the record, I will tell you why I am sure. But for now just take my word for it,” he said.

LP should prepare

Drilon said he would ask the LP’s national executive council and acting president Joseph Emilio Abaya to convene as soon as possible to nominate and approve the party’s vice presidential candidate.

“So we prepare and complete our slate for 2016, including the senators,” he said.

He mentioned four names who could be potential partners of Roxas in 2016: Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, and Trillanes and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party (NP).

He said there were other names that could be considered, the four being his “initial thought.”

As for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Drilon said that as far as he knew, De Lima would be a candidate for the Senate.

Santos and Robredo have already expressed their reluctance to run for Vice President.

De Lima, who was not even mentioned by Drilon, told reporters yesterday that she was not interested to be Roxas’ running mate.

“I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t know. No one has talked to me and definitely I’m not interested,” she told reporters in an ambush interview during the Bureau of Immigration’s 75th anniversary celebration.

“I’m just considering a senatorial [run]. Anything beyond that will not happen. Anything beyond that, I’m not ready. Definitely out of my psyche, so no,” she added.

“If somebody will ask me, even from within the Liberal Party, I will definitely say no,” said De Lima whose star power rose in social media sites when she was targeted by protesting Iglesia ni Cristo members over her handling of an illegal detention suit against the sect’s leaders.

Drilon said that in possibly recruiting Cayetano and Trillanes to run with Roxas, a team-up between the LP and the NP would be necessary.

“We cannot possibly nominate them because they are not LP. But that means we will coalesce with the other parties,” he added.

The LP and the NP became partners for the 2013 midterm elections, fielding senatorial candidates under one slate.

Drilon said the deadline for filling up the administration ticket was fast approaching, and the party should help Roxas choose his running mate.

“Maybe we should help Secretary Roxas complete the ticket. According to our constitution in the LP, the [national executive council] would be the one to nominate. Of course, we will consult Secretary Roxas,” he said, when told about earlier statements from the party that Roxas would be allowed to select his preferred running mate.

He also said President Aquino has yet to be informed of his plan.

“I’m just talking in accordance with our LP constitution,” he added.

Running for Vice President

Trillanes, who was in Miag-ao, Iloilo, as a guest of the Hablon Festival, said he would not team up with anybody in his vice presidential bid, but thanked Drilon for considering him.

“I am grateful for the statements of Senator Drilon but I am running for Vice President as an independent,” he said.

He also said that his party-list group, the Magdalo, had already decided to support Poe for President and that he had informed Roxas of this.

Trillanes said the Magdalo believes that Poe has the qualifications and capability to become the next President.

He said Poe had bested Roxas during the Magdalo selection on whom to support for President in 2016.

He admitted that Poe would not be picking him as a running mate because she has already selected Escudero, a close family friend.

Still, this would not stop him from carrying Poe as the Magdalo’s bet for President, he said.

He is banking on the strength of the Magdalo which he claimed has “massive grassroots” membership across the country.

As for NP party mate Cayetano being a possible vice presidential candidate, he said the NP would declare a free zone if two of their members or allies run for one position.

Aside from Poe, Vice President Jejomar Binay will be another rival of Roxas for the presidency.

There are also groups pushing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run for President.

Before Poe surged to the top of the surveys, Binay had enjoyed the No. 1 spot for many months.

But a recent LP-commissioned survey placed Roxas as the most preferred candidate in a one-on-one race with Binay. With a report from Joel Franco, Inquirer Visayas; and Tina Santos