Osmeña to Poe: Run independent, run alone

Senator Serge Osmena III (www.senate.gov.ph)

MANILA — Senator Sergio Osmeña III has some advice for fellow senator and top presidential bet Grace Poe.

“I think the best option (for Grace) is to run for President as an independent,” Osmeña said in a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “So she will not be a captive of any political party.”

Osmeña pointed out that Poe is already “winnable” despite having no affiliations with any major political party, which Osmeña referred to as simple “political cliques [that are] fleeting and temporary alliances.”

He also thinks that the “package deal” tandem of Poe and Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero is not a good idea.

“What if you want to support her but you don’t want Chiz? Why would you put yourself in that position?” he asked.

He also pointed out that Poe can have anybody as her running mate, but she should not go for the package deal approach when it comes to political ambitions.

“Don’t go for the package,” he said. “It’s hard enough to sell yourself first. You’re saying, take me and you also have to take everybody else along with me. It’s better not to be saddled with a running mate.”

Despite numerous reports about their political partnership, Poe and Escudero are yet to issue any official announcement about their plans for the 2016 polls.