Grace her own woman, Chiz says

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – Presidential frontrunner Sen. Grace Poe is her own woman and cannot be dictated upon in making her decisions, contrary to the claims of her critics.   

Sen. Francis Escudero, Poe’s running mate, made this statement in response to a question that Poe, being new and inexperienced, might be manipulated and dictated upon by advisers once elected president.

“No, she cannot be dictated upon. Hopefully, she can but the sad thing is, she cannot,” Escudero told reporters in jest during a recent visit in the city.

Escudero added that Poe demonstrated her independence of mind when she opined that President Aquino was responsible for the Mamasapano incident that resulted in the death of 44 policemen in an encounter with Moro rebels.

The President was the one who gave Poe the opportunity to work in government by appointing her as chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

“Yet when it came to Mamasapano, it was Sen. Poe herself who said the President was responsible,” Escudero said.

He also said that experience should not be made an issue in the presidential race since President Aquino himself was relatively inexperienced when he ran for president in 2010, yet the Liberal Party (LP) fielded him as its presidential bet over former interior secretary Manuel Roxas II, who has more experience in government.

“Why was experience not so important then and why suddenly, it has become so important now?” Escudero said.

He also downplayed the lack of an established party to back up the Poe-Escudero tandem, saying it is the people, not the party, that will ensure the victory of candidates.

“If you recall, President Ramos had no established party when he ran for president in 1992 because he lost in the LDP (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino) convention to Ramon Mitra. He founded Lakas-Tao. The same with President Joseph Estrada in 1998 when he formed LAMMP (Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino) and President Aquino who only had 21 LP stalwarts in 2010,” Escudero said.

“It’s the people who vote, not the party. You may have a party but if you don’t have people down there, it’s nothing,” he added.

He said he and Poe decided to run as independent candidates to change the political culture wherein the president deals differently with non-partymates.

“When you are a partymate, you receive assistance. But when you are not, you don’t have any release,” he said.