Washington SyCip wants Grace Poe to run for president

Washington SyCip (Wikipedia photo / Shubert Ciencia)

MANILA, Philippines– Filipino-Chinese accountancy mogul and founder of business and accounting institution giants, the Asian Institute of Management and Sycip Gorres Velayo and Company(SGV & Co.), Washington SyCip, has expressed his desire to see Sen. Grace Poe run for the presidency.

SyCip got behind Poe’s father, Fernando Poe Jr., and firmly supported him from early on in the 2004 presidential elections. Poe, whose defeat was highly questioned by a large sector of society, was believed to have lost in the counting.

The highly-regarded paragon of the business community asked Poe at the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility held on Tuesday in a hotel in Makati City if she would consider vying for the land’s highest office.

Sen. Poe thanked SyCip for his trust, but said that as of yet, she has no intentions of aiming for higher office.

“Of course, especially coming from Washington SyCip, it’s an honor to have his trust and for him to consider me as somebody who can probably give more by serving in higher office,” Poe said when asked about SyCip’s statement.

“He’s a captain of the industry. More importantly, he inspires many also because of his contributions and positivism,” she added, as she expressed that she “really admires” the 93-year-old icon.

Sen. Poe shared that aside from having supported her father’s presidential bid, SyCip also knew her grandfather, Fernando Poe Sr., who was one of SGV & Co.’s first clients.

As such, she said that maybe this is why SyCip seems to have a fondness for the idea of her running for the presidency.

“Washington SyCip was one of the first supporters of FPJ when he ran for President, so maybe he has a soft spot. That’s all,” she said.

She reiterated, however, her own misgivings about his suggestion.

“I told him I have no plans. Right now, I’m barely over a year in office and I have yet a lot to prove. But again, it’s an honor especially coming from him,” she said.

Poe was the top-ranked candidate in the 2013 senatorial election; which marked the first time she ran for public office. She has also been ranking second in surveys on voters’ preference for the country’s next President.

She falls short of the number one ranking, which has been filled by Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has long since announced his intention to run for the presidency in the 2016 elections.