Poe, Escudero still thinking over options

Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

Senators Francis Escudero and Grace Poe are pondering a call by a Liberal Party (LP) stalwart that they make a sacrifice as the administration looks around for Interior Secretary Mar Roxas’ running mate in next year’s presidential election.

If she runs for Vice President, Poe said, Escudero would not seek that position. Escudero earlier said that in case he would run for higher office, it would be for Vice President.

“You have to do what you have to do for the country and sometimes, it’s not necessarily what’s expected from you, but you have to make decisions that are difficult,” Poe said. “So sometimes even if your friend is involved, if you have to do something, you have to do it because it’s your obligation.”

She said that in the Senate, some of her friends were among those under investigation for various anomalies, including the P10-billion pork barrel scam. What is important is not just friendship, but also one’s sworn duty and obligation to the people, she added.

Escudero affirmed on Tuesday that he would not run for the same post as Poe, and would support her decision, whatever it may be, in whatever capacity.

“Senator Poe and I will not compete with each other for any position,” he said, adding that the reason he had no final decision for 2016 was because that would depend on her decision.

Like Poe, Escudero also said running for higher office was a sacrifice, more than not joining the elections.

As for President Aquino’s statement about certain people not yet being ripe for higher office, he said there was no school or course that taught one to be a good President.

“First, nobody has a monopoly of good intentions for the country. Second, President Aquino’s meeting with Senator Poe shows that even he believes Senator Poe or I have something to contribute to the continuation of the straight path,” Escudero told reporters.

“Their party’s position was just announced first,” he said.

The ruling party is wooing Poe—the current survey topnotcher—to be Roxas’ vice presidential candidate, but she has yet to commit to the group. However, she has said she joins the President in his daang matuwid (straight path) governance.

She is also discussing the possibility of running for higher office with Escudero.

Escudero said that a statement from an LP stalwart, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, that Escudero was a stumbling block to her teaming up with Roxas, was an insult to Poe.

“That’s the point of view of the LP, and that is belittling the capacity of [Poe] to decide for herself,” he said. “They should not be doing that to a person they’re supposedly courting.”

Poe, for her part, said the LP’s overtures to recruit her had only been made in the media and that no meeting with her had been set.

As for calls for her to make a sacrifice, she told reporters on Tuesday in an ambush interview it was not just she, but everybody, who should do so for the sake of the country.

She said: “What we’re saying is, everybody should make a sacrifice. Running is not easy. It is also a sacrifice, if you think about it. Maybe we should also use as a basis, what are the people saying?”

For him, what is important for a leader is to have his or her heart in the right place, and to put the interest of the country first over selfish matters.

No political party

Poe and Escudero do not belong to any political party and have said they have no intention of joining one, regardless of whether they run or not.

Nevertheless, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) said it would support a Poe-Escudero tandem if it would materialize. The NPC is the second biggest political party in the country.

Poe and Escudero on Tuesday said that they have had no formal talks with the NPC because they have yet to finalize their 2016 plans.

But they are grateful for the avowed support. Poe noted that when her father, the action movie star Fernando Poe Jr., ran for President in 2004, many in the NPC supported him.

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