Grace Poe: No regrets in running for president

These days, Senator Grace Poe lets her hair down — quite literally — and is free to wear stuff other than jeans and a well-ironed white blouse, her signature look during the campaign trail for the May 2016 elections.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Tuesday, the third-placer in the May presidential race showed up in a sleeveless dress, royal blue with a thick stripe of white in the middle, hair sleek, reaching beyond shoulders.

She is thinner now but seems to feel lighter too, wearing a smile and sipping coffee in between replies to the media.

"Mas madali pala ang mga tanong kapag 'di ka na kandidato," she says in jest.

But in her first sit-down with the press since the May polls, one question was inevitable: Does she have any regrets in joining the presidential race?

"I reg—" she began. But she quickly rephrased: "You know what... I never regret having offered myself as an alternative to the public."

Sen. Grace Poe faces media at Kapihan sa Manila Bay. She says this is her first sit-down since May pres'l race. pic.twitter.com/nIhAsq7bP6

— R-A. Dioquino (@AicaDioquino) August 24, 2016

Poe, who shed a few pounds thanks to the nationwide campaign, calls it "the most expensive weight loss program ever."

Poe went on 80 trips to a total of 44 provinces and cities during the months-long campaign.

An independent candidate, Poe shelled out a total of P510,845,262.56 for her presidential bid, most of the P511 million she received from donors.

This makes her the top spender in the five-way presidential race based on expenditures reports filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

She's not quick to believe that she was the top spender, though, saying she must have topped the figures only because she was the most honest.

"Maniniwala ba kayo na ako 'yung highest? Malaki ang ginastos namin, pero I don't believe ako 'yung pinakamataas," she said.

She added: "Maraming nagkukuwento sa 'kin na may isang kandidato na maraming kakilala sa mga komunidad, hindi na nireresibuhan."

'Alternative', 'American'

Poe announced her presidential bid in September 2015, when only two names were locked in the race—former Vice President Jejomar Binay and Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas.

On Tuesday, the senator said that as a voter, she couldn't choose between the two, finding one's reputation tarnished and the other's approach to governance too slow.

"Siguro kung nu'ng mga panahon na 'yon nakita kong may isa pang alternatibo, marahil hindi ako tumuloy. Isa na mas may karanasan, isa na pareho 'yung aming adbokasiya, malinis, makakapagbigay ng inspirasyon," she said.

The neophyte senator came in the presidential race on top of preference polls, a standing she maintained for months.

Despite her popularity, it was a rocky path leading to the campaign, with petitions that said she failed to meet the 10-year residency requirement, and questioned her citizenship given that she is a foundling.

The Comelec ruled in favor of these petitions.

Poe, in turn, challenged this before the Supreme Court, which overturned the poll body's decision and gave Poe her pass to the race.

As they got closer to Election Day last May 9, the senator fell to second in surveys, just as then-Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte rose in numbers.

Official election results showed Poe in third place with 9,100,991 votes, some 7.5 million less than the votes that won Duterte the presidency.

Duterte

Poe was first to concede to the President, who supported her 2013 senatorial bid and accompanied her and her adoptive mother, actress Susan Roces, during their visits to Davao City following the death of her father, National Artist Fernando Poe Jr.

"Ever since naman, my goal was really to offer an alternative. And to respect the election process. It was a clear lead. Bakit pa pahahabain 'yung drama?" she said.

Poe recalled that the phone call she made to Duterte before her announcement was punctuated by laughter and a request to stop questioning her citizenship.

"[Sabi ko], 'Congratulations. Hihingi sana ako ng favor.' Agad, ano? [Inisip niya siguro] ano kayang favor ito? [Sabi ko sa kaniya], 'Pwede bang 'wag n'yo na akong tawaging Amerikano? Dahil number one, hindi naman totoo, and 'yung vice president n'yo (Duterte's runningmate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano), mas mukhang Amerikano,'" she said.

Asked how Duterte responded, Poe replied: "Siyempre nagtawanan na kami, wala nang tigil 'yon."

She said she had made the same request to the then-tough talking mayor when they were stuck backstage due to a delay at the presidential debate in Cebu City.

Duterte had cited Poe's citizenship as a reason for entering the presidential race. But she recalled that he dismissed his remarks as mere part of politics, as he was used to as a local candidate.

She said she did not get an apology and did not expect one but noted that Duterte "never brought it up again" since then.

"I don't know why he even used that as a battlecry initially. Probably because he needed to distinguish himself from me," she said.

Aftermath

Poe said Duterte throwing the "American" tag at her was "forgivable in the sense that it was an issue that needed to be addressed."

She adds that she feels affirmed by the Supreme Court decision on the matter.

"I believe I've addressed that credibly also. We went to the highest court of the land to come up with a decision, so no matter what they say, I'm confident with that fact," she said.

The senator seems to have recovered from her loss and has turned her attention back to her duties at the Senate, which includes possibly giving emergency powers to Duterte to solve perennial traffic woes.

Poe said she feels better-equipped in her duties now, given that the presidential bid was "an opportunity ... to actually force yourself to review the problems of the country."

"Ito kasi you have to study every single issue, every single department, and if there's anything I really did, it was to make sure that I understood it. To spend countless hours on reading up on all these things," she said.

She added: "So ngayon, hindi na ako natatakot kasi napag-aralan ko na 'yan, kahit on the surface." — VVP, GMA News