Bankers, financial analysts want Poe to be next president

Sen. Grace Poe has topped the survey for potential presidential candidates conducted among the country’s bankers and financial analysts.

In a statement, Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist for BDO-Unibank Inc., said 12 of 23 respondents in a Bloomberg Business poll held in June chose Poe over other hopefuls, which included Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Roxas garnered 4 votes while Binay had 3.

Ravelas said Poe scored very high in the perception that she would continue the anti-corruption drive of President Aquino’s administration.

He added that the next president must have the will to stop corruption and be able to boost infrastructure.

Owing to the popularity of her father, the late movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., Poe won in the 2013 senatorial elections.

People thought of Poe as an honest leader who can continue an anti-corruption campaign, which the Aquino administration is harping on but failed to sustain.

Poe has slightly led a survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS) with Vice President Jejomar Binay coming second, although Binay retained his number one spot in the most recent SWS survey in terms of acceptance.

Binay has lorded it over the surveys for the past two years.

Survey respondents of Bloomberg believed that the Philippine economy would continue to expand at least six percent in the next decade.

Meanwhile, Sen. Cynthia Villar is not discounting the possibility that her son, Las Pinas Rep. Mark Villar, will be joining her next year if he chooses to run and win a seat in the Senate.

Speaking at a weekly forum at the Senate, Villar said her son is considering a Senate run but clarified that they, as a family, have not decided on the issue.

“He’s thinking about it. We have talked about it but we are not sure. We have different advocacies. Mark is young. He’s more on the youth, more on the jobs while I am more on women, on agriculture,” she pointed out.

In terms of empowering people for a better income, the elder Villar said they share a common view.

“When you run for the Senate, you have to have dedication. The Senate is different. You have to work harder for legislation. You have to do it nationwide,” said Villar, who heads the Senate committee on agriculture.

Mark, she added, has the option to seek another term, run for the Senate or go into business. “He just finished his master’s degree in business administration at the University of Chicago (as a) working student. He just graduated last March.”

Villar has also not discounted the possibility of having the Nacionalista Party (NP) – led by her husband former Senate president Manny Villar – strike a coalition with other political parties for the 2016 presidential elections.

Sens. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Antonio Trillanes IV and Alan Peter Cayetano, who are all under NP, are reportedly planning to run for higher posts next year.

“We are open to that but there are no talks yet. They have not declared that they are running with the Liberal Party. Only one (NP member) had declared, only Trillanes,” she added.

Until the three NP senators have decided on their political plans for next year, the NP cannot decide on how the political party as a whole will fare in the national elections.

Villar admitted that it will be a “hard fight” for the presidency next year, whether or not NP fields a candidate. As for the vice-presidency, she thinks that the NP has good chances among its three members.

“You can never tell. I think we are stronger in the race for the vice president. The presidency will be a hard fight. All presidential fights are hard. But in the vice presidential race, they (three NP senators) are popular enough to give a good fight,” she said.

Since only Marcos is the re-electionist, Villar doubts whether the NP can put up a full senatorial line-up. “Maybe a few of them will run, but it’s not really a complete line-up.”

Villar predicts a tight race for the 2016 senatorial elections, with popular names like Sens. Franklin Drilon, Teofisto Guingona III, Sergio Osmena III, Ralph Recto, Marcos and Vicente Sotto III all wanting to secure a seat.

NP currently boasts of 10 governors, 27 congressmen, 150 mayors and 10 vice-governors in its membership.

“So, we have the network and we’re very close. It is very hard for a party, especially when it is not the administration party, to retain that kind of membership. We are very close, we are like a family,” the lady senator added.

She also said that any NP member who will vie for a national position can take advantage of this network for support.

For those who may opt to run as independent like Trillanes, Villar said they can run on their own if they decide to.

Source: Philippine Star