Speaker Belmonte: Poe unstoppable, Roxas should prove ‘winnability’

Senator Grace Poe (Photo from Poe’s official website)

MANILA – According to House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II has to prove his ‘winnability’ in next year’s presidential elections or Senator Grace Poe will be ‘unstoppable.’

Roxas, the ruling Liberal Party’s (LP) presumptive standard-bearer, has been unpopular in recent presidential preferences surveys. He placed only on the third or fourth spots in latest polls, whereas Poe topped and surpassed Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay in the lead.

Belmonte then wanted Roxas to prove that he can win in the coming presidential race, especially if he expected to be endorsed by President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III.

“All his (Aquino) candidates, particularly Mar, are qualified and will give effective, honest government that will make a difference. But Mar should prove his winnability, by a dramatic increase in ratings,” LP vice chairman Belmonte said in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.

“Otherwise, Grace will be another P-Noy, unstoppable,” Belmonte added.

It can be recalled that Aquino won the 2013 presidential elections by a landslide of votes, despite of a short campaign period.

Poe, who has been another viable presidential candidate, has been having closed-door meetings with Aquino, igniting speculations that the President may endorse her after his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) later this month.

For her part, Poe clarified that Aquino did not offer her any position during their one-on-one meetings. The neophyte senator also reiterated that she still had not decided whether to seek higher office or not in the 2016 elections.

But should Poe join next year’s national elections, she admitted that she would be more confident having Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero as running mate.

Even Escudero also had closed-door meetings with Aquino. But just like Poe, he clarified that the President did not offer him any position.

The senator admitted, however, that they did talk about the coming elections and the candidates that Aquino’s administration will be willing to support.

Lakas-CMD may pull out

Meanwhile, Belmonte, who has also led Lakas-CMD political party, may pull out his bloc from the LP coalition should he choose not to support Aquino’s endorsed successor, according to an Inquirer source who asked to remain anonymous.

Isabela Representative Giorgidi Aggabao, a coalition member, then called on the President to make his endorsement soon and ‘leave out who would be a hard sell, whether friend or foe.’