TACLOBAN CITY- The purported plans of both Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero in next year’s elections get the support of the An Waray party-list group.
This was disclosed by Florencio Noel, the party-list’s chairman, who said that their decision to support the possible Poe-Escudero tandem was due to their “regional advocacies” that synchs with their own platforms.
“The An Waray is incline in supporting (Senators) Poe and Escudero because of their regional advocacies that we also espouses,” Noel, who served the group as its congressional representative for nine years that ended in 2013, said in an phone interview.
Among these regional advocacies Noel said that are also being pushed by Poe and Escudero are the development and enhancement of the country’s agricultural sector to include construction more of farm-to-market roads.
Noel said that construction of farm-to-market roads in Eastern Visayas, in particular, will boosts its agriculture sector which suffered massive blow after the onslaught of Super typhoon “Yolanda(international name: Haiyan) that hit the region, an agriculture-dependent region.
Eastern Visayas, home to more than 4 million people, is now considered the country’s poorest region after it was pummeled by Yolanda on November 8, 2013.
Noel said that the decision to support Poe and Escudero on their purported 2016 plans was a decision made by the An Waray party-list groups’ board last month.
Both Poe and Escudero, while wildly rumored to be eyeing the country’s highest posts in the land, have yet to formally announce their respective plans relative to next year’s elections.
During the 2013 elections, the An Waray collected more than 700,000 votes with two congressional representatives, Neil Benedict Montejo and Noel’s sister, Victoria.
Noel said that their group has supported the presidential bid of Sen. Poe’s father, Fernando Poe Jr., during the 2004 elections.
He also said that during the 2013 elections, they also threw their support on the senatorial bid of Poe, which she topped.
Noel admitted that aside from having common advocacies, his closeness to Escudero was also a factor why he and the rest of their party decided to give their support to Escudero and to Poe as well.