Poe, Escudero ‘running scared’

Running mates Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ARNOLD ALMACEN

PANGASINAN, Philippines — She may be leading the latest presidential surveys but Senator Grace Poe admitted that she and her running mate, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero are “running scared,” citing their lack of resources and the possibility that they would be cheated in the May polls.

Poe and Escudero, both independent candidates, are the frontrunners in the latest presidential and vice presidential surveys, respectively.

“Kami ni Senator Chiz ay tumatakbong takot, running scared sapagkat hindi kami kampante,” she said when asked during a press conference here on Friday how she was preparing to ensure that she would not be cheated.

(Senator Chiz and I are running scared because we have no assurance.)

READ: Escudero: Hybrid polls susceptible to cheating

“Alam mo organisado kami pero hindi ganoon karami ang aming pondo para magkaroon kami ng ganoong kumpiyansa tungkol dito,” she said.

(We are organized, but our funds are not that much so we cannot be overconfident.)

But Poe said she is confident that there are groups that would help them protect their votes in May.

“Tungkol sa Smartmatic at sa PCOS, kailangan ay nagpapadala kami regularly ng mga technical consultants para tingnan na ito ay naaayon at maayos ang sistema. Pero ganoon nga, nagkakaroon tayo palagi ng phobia dahil doon sa nangyari noong 2004,” she said.

(With regard to Smartmatic and the PCOS machines, we need to regularly send technical consultants to check if their system is working correctly. Just the same, we have this phobia because of what happened in 2004.)

Poe’s adoptive father, the late action star Fernando Poe Jr., ran and lost in the 2004, which was allegedly marred with massive-fraud .

READ: Grace Poe: Whatever happened to ‘Hello Garci’?

“Kaya this time, malaki ang maitutulong ng media na bantayan ang mga iba’t ibang prisinto kung saan maaring magkaroon ng dayaan, ‘yung mga election hotspots kung saan meron talagang pwedeng pagtitigil ng boto,” she said.

(This time, the media can help us observe different precincts vulnerable to cheating—the election hotspots where voting can be stopped.)

“Ang isa pang dayaan ay hindi lamang sa bilangan, pwede rin na kapag nalaman ng isang grupo na malakas ka sa isang lugar, pwedeng takutin, bayaran o hadlangan ang mga taong botante doon para bumoto. So, huwag kayong matakot, dapat ipaalam sa mga leaders kung mayroong mga bantang ganoon sa mga lugar,” the senator added.

(Another form of cheating can be done not just in the counting of votes, but also when a group knows that you are leading in one place, they can intimidate, pay or stop the people from voting. Do not be scares. Inform your leaders if these threats exist in your place.) IDL