‘Campaigning’ Poe is ‘set to run’ for president, says Drilon

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party vice-chairman Senate President Franklin Drilon is convinced that Senator Grace Poe is “all set to run” for president even as his fellow administration party stalwarts continue to issue statements hoping she would agree to become the administration party candidate for vice president. 

“I think she’s all set to run. In the last two weeks, she has not been attending our session because she has been campaigning in preparation for the survey in the first week of September. To me that is a strong indication that she’s running,” Drilon told Rappler on the sidelines of an LP event Thursday night, August 27. 

LP is fielding Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II for the presidential race. He has been holding talks with Poe to try to persuade her to become his runningmate, dangling LP support for her presidential bid in the 2022 presidential elections.

Poe’s decision is also expected to affect the current coalition agreement between LP and the second biggest political party, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), whose members are geared to support her presidential bid. (READ: The Scrum: Not a walk in the park for Grace Poe)

Drilon said he “does not have personal knowledge” about the talks between LP and NPC regarding the coalition agreement. 

Presidential wannabes have been going around provinces and getting a lot of media exposure as surveys are believed to be being conducted nationwide.

Poe herself visited 3 of the vote-richest provinces recently – Cebu, Pangasinan, and Nueva Ecija on Friday. 

The September surveys will be released a month before the deadline of filing of certificates of candidacy.

– Carmela Fonbuena/Rappler.com