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NPC leaders: Grace Poe settling for VP run makes no sense


Members of the Nationalist People's Coalition said it made no sense for President Benigno Aquino III to ask Senator Grace Poe to run for vice president when the surveys showed she could win the presidential elections in 2016.

“The suggestion for Grace to step down is being made without regard for reality,” House Deputy Speaker Giorgidi Aggabao said in a text message.

“Grace is at the top of the heap at the moment. The idea that she should step aside is nonsensical at best," he added.

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian echoed Aggabao's sentiment and said Poe would likely push through with her presidential bid.

“I highly doubt that (the prospect of Poe running for vice president) will happen. Poe is leading by far in the surveys. The people want her. That’s the voice of the people," Gatchalian said.

Aggabao and Gatchalian made the remarks after Aquino and Poe met for probably the last time before the State of the Nation Address on Monday. The meeting lasted for five hours.

Aquino has said that he would announce his chosen successor after the SONA.

The President has on different occasions met with his LP partymate Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Senator Francis Escudero and Poe.

Aquino has said that he wanted his allies to run under one ticket in he 2016 elections.

Roxas is the presumptive standard-bearer of the LP while Poe, an independent, has led presidential preference surveys by both the SWS and Pulse Asia.

She has indicated that she preferred running alongside Escudero should she decide to run for higher office next year.

The NPC is a member of the Liberal Party-led majority coalition in the House of Representatives, although Gatchalian is expected to cast his lot with the opposition ticket led by Vice President Jejomar Binay and his United Nationalist Alliance.

Escudero, a close political and personal ally of both Aquino and Poe, was a member of the NPC before he resigned from the party in 2009.

Hope springs eternal

LP vice chair for political affairs Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice is not giving up on Poe accepting the vice presidential candidate's role behind Roxas.

Erice said Poe might be waiting both for Aquino's announcement of his anointed successor, as well as the results of the September voter preference surveys, before making a final decision about running for higher office.

"My take is that she (Poe) is still thinking. I think her idea is to let Pres. Aquino announce his chosen candidate, who is presumably Sec. Mar, and wait for the surveys," he told GMA News Online in a text message.

Erice said Poe might be convinced to run as Roxas' running mate if the next surveys show Roxas' moving up the presidential preference charts.

However, he also didn't discount the possibility that Poe, the current frontrunner in surveys, might decide to run for president as an independent candidate.

"If her (Poe's) ratings continue to rise, then she might opt to gun for the presidency," Erice said.

Poe confirmed Monday night that she met with Aquino earlier in the day and talked for five hours but was tight-lipped about the details of their discussion.

In a text message to reporters, Poe said that she felt that Aquino was in "a difficult position" on the choice of the administration's standard-bearer for the 2016 elections.

"I understand and sympathize with his predicament and situation. I consider him a true and sincere friend and he has my utmost respect. He reiterated his desire for all of us to continue working together and that he believes that, like him, we can and will do what is best for our country," she said.

'Exploit the situation'

Should Poe run for president, Erice warned the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay "might exploit the situation" in what would appear to be a three-way presidential race.

"The problem with this scenario [of Poe running for president] is that her supporters might attempt to hit government programs and policies to lower the chances of the administration bet [and there might be] some supporters of Sec. Mar raising some issues against her. VP Binay's camp might exploit the situation," he said.

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, another LP official, earlier warned that Binay might benefit when there are two or more presidential contenders since no prospective candidate has yet to take a commanding lead in voter preference surveys. -NB, GMA News