Poe: ‘Daang matuwid’ not reserved for a few, for one group

Senator Poe delivering a speech at the3rd Development Bank of the Philippines Good Governance Forum.
(Photo from Poe’s official Facebook page)

MANILA – With President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III endorsing Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II as his preferred presidential candidate in next year’s elections, Senator Grace Poe believed that the ‘daang matuwid’ (straight path) is not reserved to a person or a group only.

“The straight path is not one that is reserved for a few. This should be taken by more of us. It may have different turns but the final destination is still the same – that is, to deliver what is needed for the greater good of the nation,” Poe said in her speech at a forum held yesterday.

“Even if we do not walk together on the straight path, as long as we have the same destination, that is what’s important,” she added.

Although Poe and Aquino have not reached an agreement from their long dinner meetings, the neophyte senator stressed that she and the President remained having good relations and desired serving the Filipino people with honesty and loyalty.

“You can be a principled ally of this administration and it is more valuable because it underscores the real importance of our loyalty to the people. Ahead of everything else, it is our loyalty to the mandate and the trust given to us,” she said.

After her speech, Poe entertained several questions of some reporters. She told them that like Aquino, she wanted to continue the reforms the administration started.

The senator, however, still has not officially expressed her interest in seeking higher office in the coming national elections.

It can be recalled that Aquino earlier stated that he would endorse the candidate whom he thinks would keep the ‘daang matuwid.’

Prior his endorsement, Aquino met with Roxas, Poe and Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, supposedly to deliberate his preferred successor. Poe later on disclosed that she felt like the President wanted to ask her to join the Liberal Party (LP) and become Roxas’ running-mate, although he did not ask her directly.

Amid speculations of a Roxas-Poe tandem, there were also rumors that Poe would run for president instead with Escudero as her running-mate.

Both Poe and Escudero are independents and have supported each other in politics, since the 2010 senatorial elections and possibly in the 2016 national elections.

And like Poe, Escudero believed that the ‘daang matuwid’ should be taken by every Filipino.

“No party, the LP or whoever, has a monopoly on good intentions, talent, intelligence and hard work for the country. At the end of the day, I don’t think any one person or any one party, group or organization can ever hold the monopoly of good intentions for the country,” Escudero said in a Philippine Star report.