MANILA, Philippines--He had not bothered to call her.
Sen. Loren Legarda, asked if there was a chance the team-up between her and Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero in 2010 might still push through, indicated the possibility was practically nil.
“Will it be logical for me to continue to run with him when he left me and the NPC (Nationalist People’s Coalition) without informing us and has not communicated with me up to this time,” Legarda said.
Legarda said she last talked to Escudero about two weeks ago, and up until the last minute before he announced his decision to abandon the party on Wednesday, he had not bothered to call her.
On Oct. 23, Legarda had gone ahead and announced her bid for the vice presidency without Escudero’s presence at her Luneta rally. She hinted openly about being courted by other presidential candidates.
On Oct. 28, Escudero abruptly announced he was bolting the NPC. “It’s the presidency but not at all costs,” Escudero had said, adding: “If on your way there you will be eaten up by the system, then what for? You can’t do what needs to be done anyway.”
Legarda said Escudero, a gifted public speaker and lawyer, should know by now the implications of his actions.
The NPC is led by business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, once a crony of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and one of the richest men in the country.
“I expect him to know the ramifications of his actions,” said Legarda, echoing reports reaching the NPC that Escudero would be teaming up with Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former military officer.
“I have not heard from Senator Chiz from the time that he left the party, so I don’t know about his official plans. As I’ve said, I respect his decision and I wish him well,” Legarda said.
As for speculation the NPC would still support Escudero’s presidential run, Legarda said party leaders were “still in the process of consultation.”
“At the proper time our political alliances that would be based on my platform will be revealed,” she said.
She refused to say if she had given her nod to Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., the standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party, who has not announced a running mate.
Until Wednesday, Legarda said she had no inkling whatsoever that Escudero, then the presumptive standard-bearer of the NPC, would bolt the party, leaving her without a presidential running mate.
In a phone interview yesterday, NPC spokesperson Rep. Rex Gatchalian denied he had said the NPC would support Escudero even after he left the party.
Gatchalian said that “to set things straight” he did not utter “verbatim” the words attributed to him.
He was quoted as saying: “His departure, while shocking, does not mean an end to his ties with our members … Anything is possible including the NPC eventually supporting him as president.”
“How can I say that when right now, we’re still consulting our members? I do not wish to preempt the consultation process,” he said.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
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