Escudero twits Lacierda: Resign if you’ll continue to speak for Roxas

2016 vice presidential hopeful Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda. FILE PHOTOS

Don’t dip your hand in politics.

That was the message of 2016 vice presidential hopeful Senator Francis Escudero to Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda a day after the latter said that the campaign message of Senator Grace Poe and Escudero is “confusing.”

In an interview which aired over dzBB radio on Sunday, Escudero said that Lacierda should resign as the spokesperson of President Benigno Aquino III if he wants to continue speaking for the Liberal Party and its presidential bet, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

“Kung nais niya, magbitiw na lamang siya bilang tagapagsalita ng Pangulo at maging bahagi ng campaign team ni Secretary Roxas. Bilang opisyal na tagapagsalita ng Pangulo, hindi naman siguro natatama na idudutdut niya ang kamay niya sa pulitika,” Escudero said.

(If he wants to, he should just resign as the spokesperson of the President and join the campaign team of Secretary Roxas. As the official spokesperson of the President, it is not right for him to dip his hand in politics.)

Lacierda said that the “Bagong Umaga” slogan of Poe and Escudero clashes with their claim of continuing the “Daang Matuwid” framework of the current administration.

“They have shown, for instance, in their jingle ‘Bagong Umaga’ (new day), and yet they claim ‘daang matuwid’ (straight path). So medyo confusing ang message nila. Do you want change or continuity?” Lacierda said in a dzRB interview on Saturday.

Escudero said that their tandem will continue the reforms started by the Aquino administration but will also correct its mistakes.

“Maski anong administrasyon ay walang perpekto. Hindi ba dapat lamang ituloy ang maganda at baguhin ang mali? (No administration has been perfect. Isn’t it only right to continue the good and change the bad?)” he said.

Poe and Escudero officially announced their intention to run together as president and vice president in the upcoming national elections last Sept. 16 and 17, respectively.

Lacierda: ‘Focus on campaign’

Sought for comment, Lacierda advised Escudero to focus on the issues of their campaign rather than on an individual.

The Palace official also maintained that he is an alter ego of the President.

“There is already Supreme Court jurisprudence on Cabinet Secretaries as alter egos, and Sen. Escudero is well aware of it. I would humbly encourage Sen. Escudero to focus on the bigger issues that confront a campaign instead of focusing on an individual,” Lacierda said in a text message to reporters.

The presidential spokesperson has started #JumpWithLeni, a social media campaign asking netizens to post photos of them jumping in a bid to encourage Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo to become Roxas’ vice president. JE