Mar invites Poe to dialogue vs. 'looming dictatorship'

Administration standard bearer Mar Roxas on Friday invited Sen. Grace Poe for a dialogue to prevent what he described as a "looming dictatorship," in an obvious reference to presidential race front runner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Admin bet Mar Roxas calls for dialogue with Sen.Grace Poe amid the prospect of a looming dictatorship under frontrunner Duterte.

— Virgil Lopez (@virgillopez) May 6, 2016

"Grace, mag-usap tayo. Sabihin mo lang kung saan at kailan, at darating ako," he said.

"This is for unity. This is for our country. This is for our future," he added.

Roxas' invitation, announced during a press conference at the Liberal Party headquarters in Quezon City, came after Duterte widened his lead over Poe, his closest contender in the presidential race based on the results of the Social Weather Station survey released earlier in the day.

"Specter of dictatorship"

In a statement, Roxas, who was in a statistical tie with Poe in the SWS survey, said "uncertainty and the specter of a dictatorship are looming over our country once again."

"The peso has dropped, affecting everything from the price of oil, medicines, steel, other imported goods; investors are putting plans on hold; and after six years of the corrupt being on the run, we now face the possibility of a leader coming to power who cares nothing about honesty, integrity, transparency, responsibility, or even just basic decency," Roxas said.

Without mentioning any names, Roxas said the country is now facing "the possibility of a leader coming to power who cares nothing about honesty, integrity, transparency, responsibility, or even just basic decency."

Poe: No backing down

Poe, meanwhile, said she will not back down from the presidential race despite Roxas' call.

"Sa puntong ba namang ito ay itatraydor natin sa ating mga kababayan ang karapatan nila na humusga at mamili kung sino ang at magkaroon ng maaring pagpilian? Na kami lang ba ang magde-desisyon nun? Parang hindi naman yata tama 'yun, " Poe said in an interview on "24 Oras."

Poe, however, expressed willingness to talk with Roxas and welcomed his possible input to the dialogue.

PNoy calls for unity vs. Duterte

As this developed, President Benigno Aquino, in an interview by CNN, said he was facilitating in moves by Roxas to work with rival candidates and team up to stop Duterte from winning next week's election.

Aquino said he had been talking regularly to Roxas, Miriam Santiago and Jejomar Binay and had exchanged text messages with Poe, with a view to them joining forces to thwart the maverick southern mayor.

"I am trying to get all of these different voices together and in that sense, perhaps help our candidate get together and have that united front," he said.

In response, Binay's camp said they will just let Poe answer Roxas' call for a dialogue.

Binay, Miriam to stay in race

"Dahil kay Sen Poe ang panawagan, nararapat na siya ang sumagot. Si VP Binay hanggang sa huling araw ng kampanya ay lalapit sa ating mga kababayan," lawyer Rico Quicho, Binay's spokesperson, said in text message to GMA News Online. 

Joey Salgado, head of Binay's campaign communications team, added that with two days to go before the elections, Binay believes the President should just ensure that the election is free from cheating, violence and initimidation.

"Besides, such a call for unity sounds hollow considering that the President has been hitting the rivals of Roxas throughout the campaign," Salgado said in a press statement.

"Basta't nahalal sa malinis na eleksyon, dapat igalang ng lahat ang hatol ng taumbayan dahil yan ang diwa ng demokrasya," he added.

The camp of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said they will not be issuing any comments but reiterated the senator's earlier statement that she will not withdraw from the presidential race. 

In a speech before supporters at the University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos in Bacolod City last week, Santiago said she will keep fighting, despite pressure to for her to withdraw from camps of other presidential candidates. 

She bared there that her rivals allegedly offered to reimburse her by up to P300 million in campaign expenses.

Conspiracy?

Duterte's running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, earlier bared during a press conference that there is a conspiracy among Malacañang, Roxas and Poe to prevent the Davao City mayor from winning in the May 9 elections.

He said Malacañang initially tried to make either Roxas and Poe withdraw from the presidential race for them to have a united front, but the plan supposedly did not work out. —with Amita Legaspi and Rie Takumi/KBK/NB, GMA News