‘De Lima eyed as Mar’s VP’

MANILA, Philippines - Could Justice Secretary Leila de Lima be the running mate that Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas is waiting for?

Insiders yesterday told The STAR that the feisty Cabinet member is being considered a potential vice presidential bet for the ruling Liberal Party in the 2016 polls after her recent spat with the Iglesia ni Cristo boosted her survey ratings.

The LP sources, who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak for the party, said the justice secretary is “now among the options” for vice presidential bet after Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto and Camarines Sur 3rd District Rep. Leni Robredo declined the offer.

The insiders cited De Lima’s “growing popularity” as shown by the jump in her ranking in the latest senatorial survey commissioned by the ruling party.

In the July 1 survey of the Social Weather Stations, De Lima was in eighth place with 33 percent. The more recent survey conducted in the National Capital Region showed her at seventh with 39 percent.

De Lima did not respond when asked if she would be interested to run for vice president, but during her 56th birthday celebration at the Department of Justice (DOJ) last week, she said she was ready to move to another point in her government career.

“I think it’s time that I bring this journey to the next level, to a higher level – from point J to point S,” she bared.

Although she did not specify, sources close to her believed that this refers to a transfer from the justice department to the Senate.

De Lima said her government career has not yet reached its final destination.