The president we want to have

With the 2016 elections just around the corner, the country is abuzz with talk as to who would be the best to pit against Vice President Jejomar Binay who is himself perceived to be the leading contender for the presidency, in spite of his being clouded with charges of corruption supposedly committed while he was still mayor of Makati City.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the Liberal Party’s choice, is far behind Binay in the surveys, yet the party seems dead set on its choice of Roxas. And it is eyeing Sen. Grace Poe, the stronger contender against Binay, as the party’s candidate for vice president in a team-up with Roxas.

I disagree with Roxas’ supporters who say that he is more prepared than Poe for the presidency and that the vice president position will be a good internship for her. I have nothing against Roxas, for he looks like somebody we can trust. But we surely need a strong candidate who can effectively minimize Binay’s chances of making it to the presidency. Surely, we don’t like another corrupt president to rule over us (if indeed he is guilty as charged). Pushing for a Roxas-Poe team doesn’t seem to be the right move to get to that goal. I would rather have a Poe-Roxas tandem.

Poe might look like a political neophyte vis-à-vis Roxas, but compared with Cory Aquino who ran and won the presidency and turned out to be a good leader in spite of her being just a housekeeper, she definitely has more experience. I believe given the chance, Poe can prove her worth and be the kind of president we are all hoping to have.

—THERESA PILI-NISPEROS, Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila