Poe-Escudero tandem still up in the air, says Senator Grace

By: Leila B. Salaverria - 9 years ago

Senators Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

While the two of them have discussed the possibility of teaming up, in the end Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero would each decide on their own whether they would run in next year’s elections.

Poe said on Thursday that since she and Escudero did not belong to any political party, the decision to run or not was their own to make.

“The important thing with being independent is, whatever our plans are, it is not the party that made them. It is our own initiative or decision if ever,” she told reporters.

Even if she does not run for higher office, Escudero could still run, Poe said. The reverse could also be true, she added.

Escudero said that he and Poe had been going through a “separate and independent process” when it came to deciding whether or not to join the 2016 elections.

He also reiterated his earlier statements that he would support Poe whatever her choice would be.

The two of them remain good friends and he believes that if she runs, she could hurdle any issue thrown her way.

Poe and Escudero are believed to be running together, even though they say that they have yet to finalize their 2016 plans.

Poe earlier said she was “comfortable” teaming up with Escudero, who had served as spokesperson for her father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., when he ran for President in 2004.

Liberal Party members want Poe to be the running mate of its presumptive standard-bearer, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, whom President Aquino is expected to endorse on Friday.

The President himself has met with Poe and Escudero, but there has been no indication that Poe was convinced to be Roxas’ running mate.

Recently, Poe and Escudero went to Koronadal, South Cotabato together for the T’nalak Festival, a move that some saw as a way for the tandem to test the waters for a possible run.

Residency issue

Meanwhile, Poe reiterated that she would be able to adequately explain the issue against her residency in the Philippines, which was supposedly inadequate in case she plans to run for higher office in 2016.

Poe said she had been in the Philippines since 2004, and even gave birth here during that year.

READ: Grace Poe’s citizenship / Reactions to ‘Grace Poe’s citizenship’

She would not dare deceive the people on this matter, she said.

“I do not have such an ambition for this position that I would do everything to get it. My conscience cannot fathom fooling the people just so that I could run for a higher position,” she told reporters.

She said her actual residency in the Philippines might not have been clear in her certificate of candidacy for senator because of how it was worded, but she would not fool the people on this issue, she said.

Should somebody file a case against her on this matter, she would be ready with the documents.

“The reason I myself am explaining this is because this is not an issue of stealing from the people or being remiss in my duty. It is an attack against my person, which is why I myself am responding.”