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Grace Poe doesn't see herself as VP Binay’s running mate


Taking a not-so-subtle dig at Vice President Jejomar Binay's continued refusal to face allegations of graft before a Senate subcommittee, Sen. Grace Poe on Wednesday said she doesn't see herself campaigning alongside the opposition's presumptive standard-bearer in 2016.

"Sa ngayon, hindi ko po nakikita iyon (I don't see that happening right now)," Poe said in an interview with Senate reporters.

"Naniniwala ako kasi na katapatan at pagiging bukas para mabusisi ng ating mga kababayan ay napakahalaga sa iyong trabaho so marahil medyo may pagkakaiba kami dun (I believe that honesty and being open to public scrutiny is very important in this job, so we probably differ in that aspect)," said Poe.

Poe has figured strongly in recent presidential preference surveys, placing second to Binay as the Vice President's ratings fell after the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee started conducting hearings on the overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building II and other alleged irregularities in Makati City.

Binay, Makati City's mayor for almost two decades, recently said in a statement that the country could not afford to elect inexperienced officials in 2016.

Asked by reporters if she felt alluded to by Binay's statement, Poe said honesty was also an attribute of competent leaders.

Poe, a first-termer in the Senate, then called on Binay to appear before the Blue Ribbon subcommittee and personally answer allegations of corruption against him.

The Vice President and the senator have a history of friendship as Binay served as the campaign manager of Poe's father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., when he ran for President in 2004.

In the 2013 elections, Poe, Sen. Francis Escudero and Sen. Loren Legarda were initially included in the senatorial line-up of Binay's United Nationalist Alliance.

The three were dropped from UNA's line-up after they skipped the opposition's campaign sorties and attended rallies of the Liberal Party-led administration coalition.

President Benigno Aquino III recently talked to Poe about the prospect of her being the party's "alternative" to the opposition in 2016, but he did not specify whether he wanted her to run as the party's presidential or vice presidential candidate.

While many Liberal Party members are supporting Interior Secretary Mar Roxas as their standard bearer, some have expressed openness to a Poe-Roxas tandem.

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, an LP member, was even quoted as saying that he would prefer to see Poe team up with Escudero as her running mate.

Despite these preferences, LP vice chairman and Senate President Franklin Drilon said the party remained united.

"Magkakaisa po, wala po akong nakikitang sign na magkakahiwalay. We are strong and united under the leadership of President Aquino," Drilon said. -NB, GMA News

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