Escudero: Been there, done that

Sen. Francis Escudero. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Friday said it would be 2004 all over if he agreed to be Sen. Grace Poe’s vice presidential running mate in next year’s elections.

Escudero said that when he was the spokesperson for Fernando Poe Jr. during the movie actor’s presidential campaign in 2004, he had to defend him from questions about his Philippine residency, citizenship, lack of experience and education—the same issues being thrown today at the daughter of “Da King.”

No decision yet

He said he and Senator Poe had been talking about 2016, but had not decided whether to run.

Poe, who topped the 2013 senatorial election and now the leader in the presidential polls, has said she would be comfortable running with Escudero.

“[T]his will be déjà vu for me, because when FPJ ran, I defended [him] against attacks on his residency, citizenship, lack of experience and education,” Escudero said.

“Now, 11 years after that, it’s the daughter I’m defending against the same issues,” he said.

Poe has overtaken Vice President Jejomar Binay in the latest Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia presidential surveys.

Now No. 2

Escudero has moved up to second place among the potential vice presidential candidates.

He said he was happy about the results of the latest vice presidential polls, but insisted he had not decided whether to run.

He was not boasting about the improvement in his poll standing, though.

“It’s just a survey,” he said. “It’s the vote on Election Day that’s counted, not the vote in surveys,” he said.

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