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Mar Roxas says no to Senate run

MANILA - The Liberal Party (LP) is urging actress Agot Isidro, a critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, to run under its senatorial slate in the 2019 mid-term elections, Senator Francis Pangilinan said Monday.

Pangilinan, president of LP, said the once-ruling party first floated the idea in a meeting with Isidro about extra-judicial killings and Chinese encroachment in Philippine territory.

"Of course, she was hesitant. But then we said, precisely, that we need more women to step up and so she said, 'Okay, you can consider it but let me think about it also. We're still convincing her," Pangilinan told ANC.

Isidro once called President Rodrigo Duterte a "psychopath," for his tirades against the US and the European Union.

• Agot draws flak, support after calling Duterte a 'psychopath'

IT'S A 'NO' FOR MAR

LP also offered a spot in its senatorial slate to former interior secretary Mar Roxas, who lost to Duterte in the May 2016 race, but he initially declined, said Pangilinan.

"He says no, although there are people that are still trying to convince him," he said.

Re-electionist Senator Bam Aquino will lead LP's senatorial slate, dubbed "The Resistance," Pangilinan said.

The senatorial line-up, he said, will also include Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, lawyer Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno, LP vice president for external affairs Erin Tañada, and former Akbayan representative Barry Gutierrez.

Pangilinan added that the LP is also in talks to form a coalition with groups Akbayan, Magdalo, Tindig Pilipinas and Kaya Natin for the elections.

LP has not had any discussion with other other re-electionist senators JV Ejercito, Grace Poe, Cynthia Villar, Sonny Angara, and Nancy Binay, collectively known as "The Force," said Pangilinan.

Vice President Leni Robredo is involved with LP's selection of senatorial bets, he mentioned.