Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero (left) has invited Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II to the reception of his wedding to actress Heart Evangelista in February in what some see as thawing of cold relations. . INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines–Of all the possible tandems that have been tossed around for the 2016 presidential elections, would Mar-Chiz tick?
Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero has invited Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II to the reception of his wedding to actress Heart Evangelista in February in what some see as thawing of cold relations.
On Roxas’ invitation, Escudero turned up at the Liberal Party’s Christmas party on Dec. 3 in Malacañang.
Could this be a fresh start for a political alliance leading to a team-up in 2016?
Despite the apparent thaw in their relationship, Escudero did not seem to be keen on the idea of running with Roxas for now, although they have yet to announce their political plans.
Both have figured in the poll surveys as potential presidential contenders.
Defending Mar
As finance committee chair, Escudero has been defending the budget of Roxas’ department at the annual budget deliberations, conferring with Roxas each time.
This has given the impression that they’ve regained their old ties, but the public, even the press, is apparently wrong about this.
“Do you think I feel that way [that we’re OK] again?” Escudero said, letting out a laugh. “It’s all part of work. I defended his budget. We don’t talk outside of that. We don’t see each other outside of that either.”
At the LP’s Christmas party, Escudero said they greeted each other. That was all.
Escudero said he invited Roxas to the reception of his wedding because “I consider him a friend, although we’re not as close as we used to.”
The coldness “is still there,” he added in an interview at the Senate before the holidays.
Escudero will wed Evangelista on Feb. 15 at the Balesin Island Club in Polillo, Quezon, and they will hold their reception at the Blue Leaf Events Pavilion in Parañaque City three days later.
Escudero and Roxas went their separate ways in the 2010 elections, where Escudero backed then Sen. Benigno Aquino III for president, and opposition Jejomar Binay for vice president.
Aquino won but his running mate Roxas lost to Binay.
Escudero said they used to be close when they were congressmen. At the House of Representatives during the Arroyo administration, Roxas was majority leader while Escudero was one of his deputies.
As chair of the House rules committee, Roxas took Escudero under his wings, the latter recalled.
“I’ll give you an example. The night before he withdrew, we were together,” Escudero said of Roxas’ decision in late 2009 to give way to Aquino as LP’s standard-bearer in response to growing public clamor.
And then 2010 came.
Escudero “withdrew” from the presidential race, and then Binay came knocking on his door seeking his support. Escudero said he refused to make a commitment because he considered Roxas his friend, too.
No overture
Unlike Binay, Roxas didn’t make a similar overture to Escudero.
A common friend intimated to Escudero that Roxas didn’t see him as a crucial factor in his candidacy because at the time, Roxas was leading the surveys. Stung by this, Escudero called Binay posthaste to cast his lot with him, a source said.
By the time Roxas’ camp sought his help after they were overtaken by Binay in the surveys, Escudero had made up his mind, the source added.
Escudero eventually endorsed the “Noy-Bi” (Aquino-Binay) tandem in 2010 at a time when Roxas was leading Binay by a mile in the polls.
“To begin with, we never had a fight. The relations just went cold,” he said. “We’re not enemies, but we’re not as close as we used to.”