President Aquino Still Hopeful For a Tie-up w/ Sen. Poe

(PNA) — President Benigno Aquino III remains optimistic for a partnership with Senator Grace Poe to ensure that gains registered under the current administration would be sustained in the next regime.

In an interview at the sidelines of the Bureau of Internal Revenue ‘s (BIR) 111th anniversary Monday, the President, who served as the guest speaker, noted that the bid to include Poe under the administration ticket is so strong and clearly indicated in his meetings with Poe, Senator Chiz Escudero and Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, whom Aquino declared as Liberal Party’s 2016 Presidential bet Friday last week.

“Hopefully we can get to on board one — one route towards this direction, ” he said.

The President cited that they recognize the differences among them but said that these are not substantial.

He remains positive for the eventual success of their ongoing talks but admitted that “right now it might not be the right moment to fully coalesce.”

“We are still hoping. We still want to have that very unified group that will preserve the coalition as much as possible that can ensure the victory of the agenda, ” he said.

“Palagay namin sa majority ay sang-ayon sa amin pero kapag naghati tayo nang naghati nang naghati baka naman maging manipis na manipis yung laman at doon manganib lahat yung pinaghirapan natin,” he stressed.

Also, Aquino said they continue to look for Roxas’ running mate but declined to give names and left this announcement to the latter. (PNA) CTB/JS/EDS