Estrada backs Poe-Llamanzares senatorial bid

Grace Poe. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines–Former President Joseph Estrada has made good on his promise to campaign for Team PNoy senatorial bet  Grace  Poe-Llamanzares.

Poe-Llamanzares said Estrada, a key official of the  United Nationalist Alliance, has  been  campaigning  for her in the local level.

“Alam mo hindi ko na hinahanapan ng tawag iyong ninong ko kasi sobrang hirap ng local. I’m sure he’s very busy. Basta sabi ko, the important thing is when this all ends, the important thing is we’ve preserved our relationship and our respect for each other and I’ll always consider him as my dad’s friend,” she told Manila-based reporters Friday night.

Estrada is running for mayor in Manila.

“He said he’s supporting me so that’s enough already,” she said.

“Local leaders, local candidates would tell me when I go around: ‘Your Godfather was here and he told us to support you.’ It’s a big thing  that he would tell  people  to support me,”  she added.

When asked if she was also supporting  Estrada’s mayoralty bid,  Poe-Lllamanzares said, “Hindi naman, hindi nya hinihingi (support ko) kasi naman alam nya yung aming Team PNoy. Alam naman n’ya na mahalaga sa akin iyong pakikipag kaibigan (Not really, he does not  seek my support because  he knows I’m with  Team PNoy. He also knows that   the  friendship is important to me).”

Poe-Llamanzarez, and two other Team PNoy bets – re-electionist Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero and  Loren Legarda, had been  dropped as adopted candidates of UNA after they failed to its sorties.

Despite this, Estrada promised to give his support  for Poe-Llamanzares.