Pangasinenses urge Poe: Run for president in 2016 elections

By Liezle Basa Inigo

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan -  Thousands of  blue, yellow, and white ribbons were tied on posts and trees here to mark the 76th birthday of the late “King of Philippine movies” Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) Thursday as Pangasinenses added their voice to the growing clamor for his daughter, Senator Grace Poe, to run for president in the 2016 national elections.

The thousands of ribbons which were the campaign colors of Poe when she ran in 2013 adorned the streets of Pangasinan where the elder Poe traces his roots. Poe hailed from Barangay Coayan Kiling in San Carlos City.

“We wanted to remember FPJ through this simple act of hanging ribbons on trees and electrical posts along our highways. It will also remind Pangasinenses of the person who almost became the president of the country,” said former Dagupan City councilor Dada Reyna, who now serves as a volunteer for FPJ s daughter.

The late FPJ ran in the 2014 elections but lost to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by 3.5 percent of the total votes in what was widely perceived to be rigged polls.

Aside from the ribbons, tarpaulins bearing the message “Happy 76th Birthday Fernando Poe Jr.” were also put up in the centers of the 44 towns and four cities of Pangasinan, bearing the photo of the late actor and the Philippine flag.

It will be recalled that it was in San Carlos City where Poe announced in June that she was now more inclined to make a bid for the presidency, which many Pangasinenses viewed as just fitting given her family s roots in the province.

Radio stations across Pangasinan have also been playing songs popularized by the late actor, including “Doon Lang” and “Kumusta Ka”   a duet with actress Sharon Cuneta for the movie Kahit Konting Pagtingin.

The song “Kumusta Ka” is also very close to Senator Poe s heart as her late father used to sing it to her over the phone during her college days in Boston

.

Poe considered that her father s name remains to be her biggest “capital” in the political game even as she is continuously learning and carving her own niche in Philippine politics.

Poe has recently overtaken Vice President Jejomar Binay as the front runner in the latest surveys of pollsters Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station on voter preference for the next president.

Poe topped the Pulse Asia survey with 30 percent of Filipinos saying they would back her candidacy if the elections were held today.

Binay, the erstwhile frontrunner for several months now, came in second with 22 percent, followed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (15 percent), Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada (10 percent), Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago (6 percent), and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and former Senator PanfiloLacson (2 percent).

In the SWS survey, Poe also pulled ahead of Binay with 42 percent.