Binay in exploratory talks with NPC

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay has been communicating with some officials of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, according to the NPC’s spokesman.

Although the NPC has yet to decide whom to support for the 2016 presidential elections, “some party officials” are already communicating with Binay, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, NPC spokesman, told The STAR in a text message.

“(NPC) members have not personally spoken with him, but from my understanding some party officials are communicating with him,” read the text message.

Talks with the Vice President were exploratory in nature, Gatchalian said.

The NPC is still in the consultation stage. There is no final decision yet, and they are still open to all options, he added.

The meeting with Binay “is part and parcel of the due diligence” that the NPC members are doing as they are talking to all potential candidates, Gatchalian said.

“For NPC, all options are being explored,” he said.

“We need to listen so that when the time comes for us to decide we have data and facts.”

The meeting with Binay will also help the NPC figure out who will be good for the country, he added.

Last Tuesday morning, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II invited some NPC lawmakers to his headquarters, Gatchalian said.

However, the meeting had nothing to do with Roxas’ presidential bid next year, he added.

Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero also met with NPC members during socials in their clubhouse Tuesday night, Gatchalian said.

He is also willing to talk to the NPC for his presidential bid next year, Binay said.

The NPC is comprised of two senators, 43 members of the House of Representatives, 14 governors, 22 mayors and some local officials nationwide.

Eighty percent of NPC members are rooting for a Poe-Escudero tandem next year, according to NPC president Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao.

Their sentiment arose from the “historic ties” binding Escudero and Poe to the NPC, Gatchalian said.

“Senator Chiz may have left the party, but friendships he forged with party mates were never extinguished,” he said, referring to Escudero by his nickname.

“As for Senator Grace, her dad literally went on a campaign stump for NPC local candidates in 2004. So members have not forgotten about that.”

Escudero is a former NPC member, while Poe’s father, Fernando Poe Jr. helped in campaigning for many NPC candidates in past elections.

Selecting the 2016 presidential candidate will not cause divisions within the NPC as members are “determined to stick together,” Gatchalian said.