Sen. Francis Escudero. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Sen. Francis Escudero on Tuesday said he was leaving it up to Sen. Grace Poe to comment on the advice from Sen. Sergio Osmeña III for her to drop Escudero as a possible vice presidential running mate in 2016.
“I respect the opinion of Osmeña,” Escudero said, adding that he neither felt slighted nor took Osmeña’s comments personally.
Poe, who has emerged as a strong contender in the presidential preference surveys, has yet to issue a statement commenting on Osmeña’s advice to her to run as an independent and refrain from packaging herself and Escudero as a tandem as “it’s hard enough to sell yourself first.”
Poe and Escudero have yet to announce their plans for 2016. But Poe has said that if she were to run for President, she would be “comfortable” teaming up with Escudero, who is a friend of the family.
In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Escudero said he had not yet made up his mind whether to run for higher office in 2016, even as he reiterated that he intended to remain an independent whether he ran or not.
The senator admitted that the views of President Aquino, with whom he is possibly meeting this week, would influence his plans for 2016.
Escudero said he had no idea what Aquino would have to say to him, adding that it may even have to do with the latter’s plans when he steps down as President next year. He said the last time he spoke to the President was after his wedding to actress Heart Evangelista in February.
‘Always a big factor’
He said Aquino’s opinions were “always a big factor” for him, “not only because he is the president of the country, not only because he is the leader of the country’s biggest political party, but also because we are friends and our ties are deep.”
Asked if he would wait for Aquino’s endorsement of his candidate for 2016 before announcing his own plans, Escudero said: “It would depend on our talk. It would depend on his plans and what he has in mind because I do not know what the President has in mind. What I know is what I read in newspapers quoting him.”
As for the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) which has expressed support for a Poe-Escudero tandem, he said he has had no serious talks with the group or any particular political party concerning 2016.
Escudero also sought to debunk the common perception that a presidential candidate needed a political party to win.
He cited the election victories of former Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and even President Aquino himself, who were aligned with political parties that were made up of only a few members.
He noted that in the case of Aquino, the Liberal Party had only 22 to 23 members when he ran and its members only grew to 100 when Aquino became President.
“At the end of the day, it’s the voters. One person, one vote. Whether billionaire or tricycle driver, we each only have one vote come election day. For as long as that vote is counted, we all pull the same weight,” he said in Filipino.