Poe, Escudero to rivals: ‘Be man enough’ to accept, respect NPC decision

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga—Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero defended on Tuesday the Nationalist People’s Coalition’s (NPC) endorsement of their candidacies in the upcoming elections in May, saying their rivals should be man enough to accept the party’s decision.

The NPC’s endorsement of the presidential and vice presidential bids of Poe and Escudero has been questioned by the camps of the lady senator’s rivals such as the Liberal Party (LP) of former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Roxas himself believes that the NPC endorsement was not the collective decision of the party.

READ: NPC support for Poe-Escudero not party stand, Roxas refutes

“First of all, ang nagtatapon lang ng duda ay yung mga nasa kabila. Yung amin namang endorsement ay tinatangap namin mula sa NPC at marami naman sa kanila ang matagal ng sumuporta sa amin kaya lang ngayon ay opisyal na,” Poe said at a press conferenceheld at Fortune Restaurant here.

(First of all, those who cast doubts are from other camps. The received the endorsement from NPC and many of its members have been supporting us since then, it has only been official recently.)

“Mismo liderato ng NPC ay nagpahayag, yun naman ang aming basehan…Ito ang naging decision ng partido kaya ako’y nagpapasalamat sa kanila,” she added.

(The NPC leadership has announced (the endorsement), that’s our basis… This has been the party decision and I am thankful for them.)

However, Escudero minced no words in attacking both Roxas and Binay for meddling in the affairs of the NPC.

READ: NPC endorsement of Poe won’t affect Binay’s chances, spox says

“Huli kong tiningnan, LP si Mar at UNA si VP Binay. Wala yata silang karapatang magsalita para sa NPC,” said Escudero, who was a party member until 2009.

(The last time I checked, Mar is from LP and Binay is from UNA. I don’t think they have the right to speak on behalf of NPC.)

“Pangalawa, huli ko ring tiningan, lahat sila humarap sa NPC para hilingin ang endorsement ng NPC. Kung hindi namin nakuha yun, mananahimik kami at gagalangin namin ang decision ng NPC. Porket hindi nila nakuha ang dami naman masyadong sinasabi.”

(Second, the last time I also checked, all of them met with NPC to ask for the party’s endorsement. If we didn’t get (the endorsement), we would be silent about it and we would respect NPC’s decision. They didn’t get (the endorsement), that’s why they are saying these things.)

Poe, Roxas, Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, another presidential aspirant, met separately with the NPC to get its support.

Escudero wondered why the two camps were complaining over the NPC decision when they both have their own political groups and machinery compared to him and Poe.

“Sana tulad ng gagawin namin kung hindi kami ang napili ng NPC, ganun din sana ang gawin nila—magpakalalaki sila kaugnay sa bagay na ito . Tanggapin at galanging kung ano pagpasya pabor man yun o kontra man yun,” he said.

(I hope they will also do what we would have done if we were not chosen by NPC—they should be man enough on this matter. (They should) accept and respect whether the decision is in favor of or against them.)

As a former NPC member, Escudero said he never once tried to speak on behalf of the party.

“Sana tanggapin nila ang ilang bagay na hindi naman lahat sa kanila, hindi naman lahat pwedeng makuha nila. May mga grupo at partidong hindi nila makukuha at hindi rason yun para siraan nila o maliitin nila dahil lamang hindi sila kakampi. Hindi lang sila ang bida sa Pilipinas…” the senator added.

(I hope they accept that not all things are for them, they can’t possible have everything. There are groups and parties they won’t get but that is not a reason to criticize and underestimate them just because they are not their allies. They are not the only protagonists in the Philippines.) RAM