Escudero not part of Liberal Party plan

Sen. Francis Escudero. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Liberal Party (LP) has begun talking about 18 years of progress and development, beginning with the administration of President Benigno Aquino III and continuing with the potential administrations of now Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Sen. Grace Poe. Somebody is not being mentioned: Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

According to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, an LP stalwart, party members are reluctant to put Escudero in the picture because of his playing the spoiler in the 2010 run of Mr. Aquino and Roxas.

Then with a sizable voter backing, Escudero, a supporter of Mr. Aquino, junked Roxas and endorsed Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay in the vice-presidential race.

His influence is widely believed to be one of the factors that cost Roxas the election.

It is also widely believed that Escudero junked Roxas in 2010 to eliminate him from the 2016 race for Malacañang, which he planned to contest.

But now that potential Presidents are positioning for the 2016 race, Escudero is not ready to run. He says it is not yet his time and if he will run it will be only for Vice President.

Whose Vice?

After 2010, certainly not Roxas’.

Abad told the Inquirer in a recent interview that he was “almost certain” that there had been no discussions between the LP’s presumptive presidential standard-bearer, Roxas, and Escudero.

LP members are pushing for Poe, who topped the 2013 senatorial race, to be Roxas’ vice-presidential running mate, although the junior senator is fast emerging as a potential presidential candidate, running second to Binay in the polls.

READ: Administration allies batting for Poe-Roxas or Poe-Escudero

“If one combination is [with] Sen. Grace Poe [as] his running mate then where does that leave Senator Escudero?” Abad said.

But Escudero remains “close to the administration, especially personally in the case of President Aquino,” Abad said.

“So that is something that needs to be thought about although, you know, at this stage, [there] is really nothing definite,” he added.

Positioning

The four months between now and October, when the contenders file their certificates of candidacy, is a short wait for many.

Except for Binay, no one has declared a bid for Malacañang. Almost certainly, however, Roxas is running. He is currently in third place in the polls, behind Poe and Binay.

Except for the “if” from Escudero, there have been no declarations for the vice presidency.

Stumbling block

If she agrees to be part of the LP’s 18-year regime of progress and development, Poe will be a formidable contender for that post.

According to Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, however, there is a stumbling block to a Roxas-Poe ticket and that is the possibility that Poe may be persuaded to run for President.

“I think there really are people who want her to run for President because of her survey rating,” Erice, LP chair for political affairs, said on Saturday.

One of those people, he said, is Escudero, a close friend of Poe.

Erice noted that Escudero has spoken about running for Vice President.

READ: Escudero to run for vice president, if …

Escudero said, however, that it is an insult to Poe to insinuate that she can be easily influenced. Poe has her own mind and cannot be easily swayed, he said.

“The problem with Representative Erice is that he thinks that they or anyone else can dictate or impose their will on Grace. I don’t think he should insult Senator Grace by assuming that someone or anyone can so easily influence her to do something she is not herself convinced of,” Escudero said in a text message.

He said if Erice wanted Poe to run with Roxas, the Caloocan lawmaker “should start by giving her the respect that she deserves and stop trying to bully her.”

Poe, he said, is “stronger and more principled than he thinks.”

You, too, Abad

The same is true with Abad, he said in response to the budget secretary’s statement about the absence of Escudero from the LP’s idea of an 18-year regime of progress and development.

Poe and Escudero have said they have been talking about running together in 2016. Both, however, have said they have not made a decision.

Poe has also said she would be “comfortable” teaming up with Escudero.

READ: Poe ‘comfortable’ with Escudero as her VP

Erice said people who wanted Poe to run for President had “business models” that would not flourish under a Roxas presidency or feared being unable to continue their “activities.”

Not that Poe would condone these, he said, but that “she is new” and they think they could do what they want under her administration.

But it would be Poe who would decide, Erice said, adding that he believed she was considering other factors.

“I think Senator Grace is also thinking how she could help our country. She’s looking at whether running is for her or not,” he said.

Aquino’s endorsement

President Aquino is choosing a candidate to endorse as his successor in Malacañang.

He has said he will announce his choice after his last address to a joint session of Congress on July 27.

Mr. Aquino has also said he has spoken to Poe and he believes she has the capability to pursue his reform program and sustain his administration’s gains.

Roxas, however, remains at the top of the administration’s list of potential candidates, the President has said.

Abad said the LP had yet to decide whether to actively pursue Poe as a vice-presidential running mate for Roxas.

“But I think what is significant is that number one, Senator Poe has said that securing the endorsement of the President is important to her and that has some value in so far as the elections are concerned for the [next] President and Vice President,” Abad said.

“Number two is that [she] is also in conversation with the President as well as with Secretary Roxas, which means the lines are open,” he said.

Talks with Poe

Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, LP secretary general, said the door remained opened to Poe as Roxas’ vice-presidential running mate.

“Yes, [the President] and Secretary Mar have initiated talks with Senator Grace,” Sarmiento said in a text message.

“[B]ut as to further details of the talks, I am not privy to that,” he said.

Abad said the discussions were for three successive six-year terms, beginning with President Aquino’s and continuing on to Roxas’, during which Poe will apprentice for her turn and then go on when she takes Malacañang in 2022.

Abad explained the need for continuing the reforms introduced by the Aquino administration.

“I think if you really are seriously looking at 2016, in relation to the transformation, I think nobody argues, nobody denies that many positive things have been started by this administration,” Abad said.

“Therefore the elections in 2016 must be framed as an electoral exercise to continue the transformation that was started by President Aquino during his six-year administration,” he said.

Diversionary tactic

Abad also defended Poe against the opposition’s attacks on her qualifications and citizenship, saying these were a “diversionary tactic” to distract the people from the corruption charges against Binay.

Abad said he was not bothered by Roxas’ poor showing in the polls, saying that the interior secretary has not yet declared his candidacy for President.

For Abad, President Aquino’s endorsement would greatly matter in the campaign.

Yellow, Abad said, would still be the dominant political color next year.

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