(Eagle News) — It’s a Grace Poe-Chiz Escudero tandem for the 2016 presidential and vice-presidential race.
Poe and Escudero formally announced their team-up on Thursday, Sept. 17 in a gathering held at the Kalayaan Hall of Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.
Poe made the announcement a day after she declared that she was running for president in 2016.
Poe said Escudero, who had served as her father’s spokesperson during the 2004 presidential elections, was chosen not because he was a friend, but because of his abilities.
Both Poe and Escudero had topped in various surveys for presidential and vice-presidential bets, which was among the reasons why no less than President Aquino had repeatedly tried to persuade them to join the administration ticket. Aquino had wanted Poe to run as Mar Roxas’ vice-president, an offer which the senator turned down.
“Ikinagagalak ko na may katuwang na tayo pagdating sa bayan. Ang batayan natin ay hindi lamang dahil siya ay kaibigan ko kundi dahil siya ay mapapagkatiwalaan, may kakayahan, at may nagawa na para sa bayan,” Poe said.
She continued: “Hinihingi ko ang inyong suporta para sa inaasahang manilbihan sa atin, sa ating pangalawang pangulo, Sen. Chiz Escudero.”
For his part, Escudero made this response in his speech: “Ako po si Chiz Escudero, isang Pilipino, anak, asawa, at Bicolanong lingkod bayan. Buong pagpapakumbaba ko pong inaalay sa tulong ng Diyos at ni Ina ang aking sarili sa mas mataas na paninilbihan bilang inyong ikalawang pangulo ng ating bansa.”
It should be recalled that Poe had a similar line in her speech when she announced her presidential bid Wednesday night, Sept. 16, at the University of the Philippines, Bahay ng Alumni.
“Ako po si Grace Poe. Pilipino. Anak, asawa at ina, at sa tulong ng Mahal na Diyos ay inaalay ko sa inyong lahat ang aking sarili sa mas mataas na paninilbihan bilang inyong Pangulo,” she said.
Her formal announcement that she will run for president next year was done at the same venue where her father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., had also announced his presidential bid.
Poe in her opening speech addressed to all Filipinos said: “When I first asked for your help, I said that I wanted to continue what my father FPJ had started.
“His decision to seek the presidency was anchored on a simple principle. 11 years ago, in this very same hall, he declared that he wanted to help the poor, fight oppression, and forge a prosperous and just society.
He often told me: Gracia, poverty is not a destiny because each one’s fate is in his/her hands. But to get out of poverty, one’s own hard work is often not enough. Everyone needs a helping hand. Shouldn’t this be the measure of a responsive government and society – how it uplifts everyone and leaves no one behind?”
In her speech, Poe also detailed a 20-point program of what she intends to do in government if she makes it to the presidency.
