FORMER Senator Panfilo Lacson, who has said he will decide on his plan to run for President after the release of the next political survey, on Wednesday discussed his possible opponents in the May 2016 elections.
Taking the cudgels for Senator Grace Poe, who was attacked by Vice President Jejomar Binay for her lack of experience to run the country, Lacson contradicted Binay and said “she is qualified.”
“Grace Poe is inexperienced but qualified,” Lacson told a breakfast forum in Manila.
He made his statement even as superstar Nora Aunor on Wednesday said she would endorse Poe in case she decided to run for President in 2016.
"Yes!" she said. She said she would campaign 100 percent for Poe.
Lacson described Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, another possible presidential candidate, as a problem analyzer and not a problem solver.
On Binay, who is being hounded by astring of corruption charges, Lacson said he had too many problems to solve.
If things did not change and Binay retained his number one ranking for the 2016 elections, then he would be a force to reckon with, Lacson said.
He described former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada as “localized.”
The supporters of Lacson in his presidential run want Poe to be his runningmate.
Retired military and police officials recently came out with a one-page political advertisement urging him and Poe to forge a political alliance and run in 2016.
The group said the country needed “the strong-willed, disciplined and decisive service reputation of Lacson and the untarnished and compassionate brand of leadership of Poe.”
But Lacson said there were no formal talks yet with Poe, who closed ranks with Vice President Jejomar Binay in the last presidential survey.
Lacson has repeatedly said he has high regards for Poe. He says the senator did well as head of the Senate public order committee that led the Senate investigation into the Mamasapano debacle in which 67 Filipinos, including 44 police commandos, were killed
He also said Poe’s name had never been tainted and they shared the same advocacy: the fight against graft and corruption.