Estrada won’t ‘waste time’ campaigning against Escudero

FORMER President Joseph Estrada cannot discredit the re-election campaign of Senator Francis Escudero since he is pre-occupied with his mayoralty bid in Manila and seeking public support for the senatorial candidates of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), his spokesperson said Sunday.

“There’s no truth to that. FPJEE (Former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada) would not waste his time. He is simply not campaigning for Chiz (Escudero),” said Margaux Salcedo in a text message to Sun.Star.

Last week, Escudero said he received reports that Estrada is actively campaigning against him after the senator snubbed UNA sorties in favor of administration-backed Team PNoy.

This led Estrada and his fellow leaders in the coalition in late February to drop Escudero, Senator Loren Legarda, and former censors board chief Grace Poe-Llamanzares as adopted candidates.

“It’s his right. We can’t force him to campaign to any candidate and he can freely aim at a candidate he doesn’t like,” said Escudero, one of the leaders in pre-election surveys.

Escudero won as senator in 2007 under the Genuine Opposition ticket backed by Estrada. He also supported the successful vice presidential bid of then Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay three years ago.

Binay and Estrada are stalwarts of UNA, along with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)