Sen. Chiz Escudero will not be surprised if it is found that one of Sen. Grace Poe’s opponents is behind the disqualification cases filed against the leading presidential contender in the May 2016 national elections.
Escudero, who is Poe’s vice president running mate, said he was leaving it up to their allies to investigate the brains behind the filing of the disqualification cases, but added that his gut feel was telling him that it was one of the lady senator’s rivals in the presidential race.
“Hahayaan ko na lamang siguro si Mayor Rex Gatchalian at si Atty. George Garcia ang magsabi at maghayag kung sino yun dahil mas kumpleto sila sa kanilang imbestigasyon at pagsasaliksik kaugnay kung sino ang nasa likod nito. Pero hindi na ako magugulat siguro kung isa sa mga katunggali ni Senator Poe sa pagkapangulo ang makikita’t mapapag-alaman na nasa likod ng mga panggigipit na ito (I’ll just leave it to Mayor Rex Gatchalian and Atty. George Garcia to reveal who is behind it since they are the ones conducting the investigation. But I will not be surprised if it turns out that one of Senator Poe’s opponents is behind these incidents of harassment),” Escudero said in an interview at the Senate.
Former Senator Francisco Tatad on Monday filed a disqualification case against Poe before the Commission on Elections (Comelec), saying that Poe was not a natural-born Filipino and that she failed to satisfy the 10-year-residency requirement for presidential candidates.
Two other disqualification cases have been filed separately against Poe by defeated 2013 senatorial bet Rizalito David and Estralla Elamparo, former Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) legal counsel under the watch of Winston Garcia, an ally of Vice President Jejomar Binay who is running for governor in Cebu.
“Sigurado akong marami pang kaso at panggigipit ang kakaharapin ni Sen. Grace dahil ganyan ang trendpalagi sa pulitika sa ating bansa (I am sure that more cases will be filed and more harassment will be done against Grace, as that is always the trend in politics in our country),” said Escudero, who like Poe, has been topping various pre-election surveys.
Gatchalian, official spokesperson of the Poe-Escudero tandem for the 2016 elections, earlier urged all presidential bets to “keep the campaign on a professional level” after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte cried foul over the spread of a malicious rumor on his health condition.
“It is lamentable how a valuable civil servant like Mayor Duterte should fall prey to such attacks. We just cannot stand and watch while all that talent and goodwill go to waste just because of another candidate’s ambition,” Gatchalian said./chizescudero.com; FB: senchizescudero; TWITTER: @saychiz @chiznewsalert
