De Lima hints at Senate run, asks for support in ‘next, higher level’

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima on her 56th birthday stopped short of a categorical declaration that she will run for the Senate in 2016 but wished her friends and supporters to continue helping her in the journey to the "next higher level... like from point J to point S."

De Lima had promised a special announcement on her birthday to reporters who have been asking whether she would run for the Senate.

“No I'm not there yet, no we're not there yet and I think what you and I have done was merely to get from point A to point B,” De Lima said.

“We have yet to get to point J to point S. And if you ask me I think it's time for you and me to bring this journey to the next level, to a higher level, to the next higher level. Like from point J to point S” she added.

Some in the audience took point J and point S to mean the Department of Justice and the Senate respectively.

De Lima then said her birthday wish was that all her supporters during her stint as Justice Secretary would be there as she continues “a new chapter in my journey.”

“Will you stay with me? Continue to walk with me in the journey? Again, will you walk with me in the next chapter of my life?” she addressed the crowd which collectively replied in the affirmative.

“And dahil po diyan sa sagot niyo sa tanong ko, alam niyo na rin po siguro ang sagot ko sa tanong ninyo,” she said.

De Lima attended both of the LP's “Gathering of friends” event where President Benigno Aquino III officially endorsed Interior Secretary Mar Roxas as the standard bearer for the ruling political party.

Aside from De Lima, other LP stalwarts presumed to be running for the Senate are Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Atty. Francis Tolentino. -Andrei Medina/NB, GMA News