AN ALLY of the ruling Liberal Party on Thursday chided Senator Grace Poe over her alleged “showbiz response” to her critics and asked her to explain her credentials for the highest office in the land.
“Senator Poe’s cute ‘no excess baggage’ sound bite might make for good showbiz, but it does nothing to answer the substantial question on her experience and qualifications,” Team Daang Matuwid and Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez made his statement even as Poe, who is running as an independent under the Galing at Puso party, widened her lead over the other presidential candidates based on the first nationwide survey conducted immediately after the filing of Certificates of Candidacy by those running in 2016.
The Magdalo survey on Oct. 20 to 22 showed that Poe topped almost all regions with 43 percent of the respondents favoring her and had a 16-percent lead on the second placer.
Magdalo Party-list Rep. Francisco Ashley Acedillo said “(i)n this pre-election survey, we provided respondents with the list of known individuals who filed their certificate of candidacy for the position, and they were asked ‘If elections would be held today who among the possible candidates would you vote for?’”
Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is running under the United Nationalist Alliance, came in next with 27 percent. He was followed by Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II with 17 percent and Senator Miriam Santiago of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino with 11 percent.
Gutierrez said he was amused after Poe decided to shrug off his earlier statements in a television interview that Poe “really has the leanest resume.”
“I was somewhat surprised when Senator Poe took it upon herself to respond to this candid remark,” Gutierrez said.
“While admitting that her resume was indeed lean, she attempted to brush aside the significance of this point by saying that this meant she had no ‘excess baggage.’’’
“While I appreciate that she took time to answer the point, I do not think she came close to addressing the issue.” John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta