MANILA, Sept. 16 (PNA) — With no explicit face of opposition among potential candidates for president in the 2016 elections, next year’s political landscape offers the voting public a ‘very unique situation’, a Palace official has said.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda only said this much to reporters in Malacañang on Wednesday ahead of the expected entry of Senator Grace Poe in the 2016 presidential race.
Poe, whose senatorial bid in 2013 was both supported by President Benigno S. Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay, is presumed to announce her political plans on Wednesday afternoon.
The administration party already found a standard-bearer in former interior and local government secretary Manuel Roxas II, while Vice President Binay is leading the United Nationalist Alliance ticket.
“This is a very unique situation in our electoral history, where every time there is an election, everybody talks about change. This is the situation in our electoral history where we are going to talk about continuity,” Lacierda said.
As President Aquino’s preferred successor, Roxas is expected to continue his programs and policies under the ‘Daang Matuwid’ coalition, he said.
What to make of Poe’s and Binay’s objectives in eyeing the presidency remains to be seen as both have yet to present their respective platforms to the voting public.
“It is as simple as this — and this is historical, not my own personal opinion — elections in the Philippines have always been binary. When I say ‘binary,’ it’s administration; it’s opposition,” Lacierda told reporters.
“So how do you classify Grace and how do you classify Vice President Binay? It depends on the platform that they are going to espouse,” he said, adding that Roxas’ chances of winning are strong under ‘Daang Matuwid’ coalition.
Lacierda insisted that there is a need to institutionalize the reforms that President Aquino has implemented, especially the conditional cash transfer program, and the universal health coverage, among other things.
“We are running on a platform of continuity. For every country, if you look at the Asian countries that have prospered, it is because of the good economic policies that have continued,” he said. (PNA)