Villar Denies Reported NPC-NP Alliance Supporting Poe-Chiz Tandem

(PNA) –- Senator Cynthia Villar denied on Thursday reports that the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and the Nacionalista Party (NP) are forming a coalition to support the Grace Poe-Chiz Escudero tandem in 2016.

”I do not know what is the basis of NPC president Giorgidi Aggabao for claiming that the NPC and the NP are forming an alliance to support the candidacy of Senator Grace Poe as president and Senator Francis Escudero as vice president,” Villar said in a press statement.

Villar said she and her husband, former Senator and NP president Manny Villar were surprised by the report, adding that the NP is still in the middle of consultations within its ranks.

”We have set a September deadline before we can officially announce our participation in the May 2016 polls,” Villar said.

”To reiterate, we have to first determine the plans of our own members before we can express support for non-members. We are very proud of our party,” she added.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a member of the NP, has already expressed his intention to run for vice president while the names of other NP Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. have cropped up as possible presidential bets.

The NPC and the NP coalesced with the administration Team PNoy in the 2013 mid-term elections.

Poe, the public’s top choice as presidential candidate based on the latest Pulse Asia survey, has yet to announce her 2016 plans despite a series of talks with President Benigno S. Aquino III. (PNA) SCS/JFM