House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., a Liberal Party (LP) official, admits that Senator Grace Poe is looking good right now for 2016–based on her survey figures, that is.
“Grace’s ratings are too good. She has been performing quite well,” Belmonte, one of LP’s two vice chairmen, told House reporters in the wake of the lady senator’s overtaking of erstwhile leader Vice President Jejomar Binay in two independent pollster surveys.
“She has led the passage of the FOI (Freedom of Information) bill and the inquiry on the Mamasapano tragedy. And being in the Senate is really the easiest way to go up because they have national constituency,” Belmonte said of Poe, who at the moment is party-less or independent.
Survey results from Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations (SWS) last Thursday showed Poe garnering voter preference ratings of 30 percent and 42 percent respectively, as compared to the 22 percent and 34 percent received by Binay.
Unlike Binay though, Poe, daughter of the beloved late king of Philippine movies Fernando Poe Jr. has yet to officially declare her plans of running for a higher post–if at all–in 2016.
Belmonte, who has consistently spoken well of the senator, said Poe’s skyrocketing popularity could also end up hurting her no thanks to the “ambitious” people around her.
“But being the number 1, she will be the target of her friends who are equally ambitious for the position. She has to watch out for them,” the House leader said without mentioning anyone in particular.
MANILA BULLETIN
