Estrada: Plan to drop 3 candidates from UNA not yet final

Former President Joseph Estrada

MANILA, Philippines—The plan to drop the three common senatorial candidates his United Nationalist Alliance shares in common with the administration’s Team PNoy — Grace Poe-Llamanzares and  senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda —is not yet final, former President Joseph Estrada said Friday.

Estrada made the disclosure in an interview at the signing of an election covenant among local candidates in Manila. He said the decision on whether to drop the three candidates from the UNA slate would be made by the coalition’s three bigwigs, namely, namely Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and himself.

When asked what UNA’s threshold of patience was for the continued failure of the three candidates to attend UNA campaign sorties, Estrada replied, “We cannot say how long we can tolerate their non-attendance of our campaign sorties, but the decision will be made soon.’’

He added that as of this time, no decision on the fate of the three common bets have been made, but it will have to come from UNA’s acknowledged leaders.

“The three of us have to discuss the possibility of their exclusion from the UNA slate   if it happens, and soon,’’ Estrada said.

Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco, UNA campaign manager, said earlier that Llamanzares, Escudero and Legarda should decide whether they will campaign for LP and not join UNA rallies.