TACLOBAN CITY—Having previously been a candidate on two senatorial slates himself, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero sees nothing wrong with having senatorial candidates straddling two slates in the coming elections.
He said the 12-man slate he and Sen. Grace Poe have cobbled together was complete but its announcement was delayed due to Typhoon “Lando.”
Poe will unveil their senatorial lineup on Monday since she was the one who talked to all the candidates, Escudero said.
Some of their candidates will also be in the senatorial lineups of rival parties, he said, but this posed no problem.
“I know of no condition [to be imposed on the candidates],” Escudero told reporters.
Golden rule
“On my part, if you ask me, do not do unto others [what you would not want done to you],” he said.
Escudero recalled that in 2013 when they both ran for senator, he and Poe were taken in as guest candidates by both the administration and opposition slates.
Later, however, the opposition coalition, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), dropped them soon after the campaign started for failing to attend the UNA proclamation rally and a few sorties.
This time around, Poe and Escudero are running for President and Vice President, respectively, still independent, without a party.
Thus far, they have endorsed the senatorial candidacies of Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares and Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno.
An Inquirer source earlier revealed the rest of the probable lineup: Senators Tito Sotto and Ralph Recto, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Samuel Pagdilao, actor Edu Manzano, former Bukidnon Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, former Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo and lawyer Lorna Kapunan.
Recto is a member of the Liberal Party and is also a candidate on the administration slate. Zubiri and Gordon are reportedly included in the opposition UNA slate.