Escudero files candidacy for senator

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero files his certificate of candidacy Tuesday at the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Escudero is running for senator under the Liberal Party-led coalition. He is also a guest candidate of United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). INQUIRER.net/Maila Ager

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero has filed his certificate of candidacy (CoC) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Intramuros Tuesday.

Escudero is one of three guest candidates of both the administration coalition and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Escudero, when pressed by reporters about the controversy on the administration coalition’s rule for guest candidates to not campaign with UNA and Vice President Jejomar Binay’s earlier comment that they would withdraw support if that materialized, said that he believed that the  issues would be resolved before the official start of campaign.

He said he had breakfast with Binay before filing his CoC, during which they talked about the need to resolve the issues, especially for the three guest candidates.

Escudero, along with Senator Loren Legarda, and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board Chairperson Grace Poe Llamanzares, were the three candidates whom UNA shared with the ruling coalition.

Escudero maintained that he was not a fan of rallies, saying that in the 2007 elections, he only attended three out of the 40 rallies.

“Dahil sa pananampalataya ko sa makabago at murang paraan gamit ang traditional at modernong kampanya,” he said adding that he would utilize radio, tv, print and social networking sites for his campaign.

When asked why he chose to file his CoC on the second day, Escudero said that “ayaw lang namin masama sa unang bugso, ayaw din naman namin mahuli dahil baka mamaya makalimutan lang magfile.

Escudero to file amendments to cybercrime law Tuesday

Meanwhile, Escudero also said that he would be filing Tuesday amendments to the Cybercrime act, saying he maintained the position of decriminalizing libel.

“Dapat tanggalin ang criminal liability sa libel. Kung meron mang liability, dapat civil lang,” he said.

Originally posted at 09:41 am | Tuesday, October 2, 2012