Leading VP bet SENATOR MARCOS DENIES GRACE POE IS HIS SISTER

By Nestor Corrales

MANILA, Philippines–Sen. Grace Poe, who has closed in on Vice President Jejomar Binay as the voters’ preferred President in 2016, is also the leading choice for Vice President, results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey last month showed.

Poe was chosen by 26 percent of the 1,200 adult respondents who were asked to name a candidate they would likely vote for the second-highest post in the country. The respondents were not given a list of names and were asked to give only one name.

The survey was conducted from March 20 to 23. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points for national data.

Behind Poe were Interior Secretary Mar Roxas with 12 percent and Binay with 7 percent.

All three, together with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, were among the leading choices to replace President Aquino in 2016, results of the same SWS survey released last week showed.

Binay was the favored presidential candidate of 36 percent of the respondents while Poe was picked by 31 percent. Roxas and Duterte were tied at third place with 15 percent.

Neophyte has advantage

“The public sees Poe as a newcomer and voters are looking for a new candidate who can be trusted,” said Earl Parreño, a member of the board of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform in a phone interview.

Being a neophyte comes with an advantage and a disadvantage, Parreño said. The advantage, he said, is that one has no bad record while the disadvantage is that he or she has less experience.

The results of the survey showed Poe was a shoo-in for Vice President and this was the reason several parties were convincing her to run in the next elections, according to Parreño.

He, however, noted that with more than a year before the elections, the ratings could still change.

Poe, who is in the middle of her first term in the Senate, has not declared her plans for 2016.

Other names that appeared in the survey of vice presidential preference included Sen. Francis Escudero (6 percent), Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (5 percent) and Duterte (4 percent).

Also mentioned with 3 percent each were Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

Other names were Sen. Loren Legarda (1.7 percent), former Senators Panfilo Lacson (1.6 percent) and Manny Villar (0.6 percent), detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (0.6 percent) and Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto (0.6 percent).

Marcos said he was not supporting Poe yet.

A member of the Nacionalista Party, Marcos said he was taking this position because he did not know Poe’s plans and which party she would align with should she seek the presidency.

“Should she join the Nacionalista (Party), then we will help her. If not, we will help our own candidate, not her,” said Marcos, replying to questions raised by reporters in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga province.

Marcos, who claimed he had no plans to run for President in the 2016 elections, said he was not committing the Ilocano votes to Poe.

“That’s up to her. She has to campaign [and seek their support],” he said.

‘Sister’ Poe

A local columnist asked Marcos: “Are you running with your sister?”

Marcos, perplexed, asked: “Sister?”

When the columnist referred to Poe, who has long been rumored to be the daughter of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos with an actress, the senator said: “I have no other sisters. Imee (Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos) and Irene [Marcos-Araneta] are my only sisters.”

At the press briefing, another reporter took up the same matter, by asking if the senator and Poe have blood relations.

Marcos made light of the situation, replying that because of persistent rumors about their supposed kinship, he has been fondly calling Poe “Sis” and she, addressing him as “Kuya,” or elder brother.

Poe, a daughter of the late actor and National Artist Fernando Poe Jr. and actress Susan Roces, topped the senatorial race in the May 2013 elections.—With Nestor Corrales, INQUIRER.net

(Photo credit: Grace Poe picture downloaded from Inquirer.net; Bongbong Marcos photo downloaded from google.com)