Grace-Chiz tandem officially launched
SENS. Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero sealed yesterday their partnership for the 2016 elections.
Poe, who is running for president, endorsed Escudero as her running mate at the historic Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City.
Poe said she was grateful there is someone like Escudero whom she can trust to help implement the programs she would want to accomplish for the country if elected president in May 2016.
“Yes, Senator Chiz (Escudero) is my friend, but for the (betterment of the) country, our basis in choosing a running-mate is that the person should be trustworthy, has the intellect, and has already achieved something for his fellow countrymen,” Poe said.
“I am asking for your support for the person whom we can trust to serve us, our next vice president — Sen. Chiz Escudero,” she added.
After Poe’s endorsement, Escudero declared his intention to seek the second highest post in the land.
“I am Chiz Escudero, a Filipino, a son, husband, father, and a Bicolano public servant. With the grace of God and the Blessed Mother, I humbly offer myself to the mission of serving as your vice president… as the vice president of our country,” he said.
Both senators are frontrunners in the presidential and vice presi- dential surveys, respectively.
Poe and Escudero have known each other since 2004, when Escudero acted as the spokesman of Poe’s late father, actor Fernando Poe Jr., in his presidential bid.
Unlike Poe who is a neophyte senator, Escudero served three terms for nine years straight at the House of Representatives.
He then served as senator in 2007 and was re-elected in 2013 for another six-year term ending in 2019.
Escudero said he and Poe will run a government that has the heart for the poor and will hit the ground running on their first day in office.
“Senator Grace and I will establish a government with heart through a detailed platform for each agency, which will be based on their yearly budget,” he said.
If elected, Escudero said he and Poe will raise the bar of public service by getting rid of slow and inefficient personnel in government.
A former chair of Senate finance committee, Escudero said the next administration will appoint more than 5,000 individuals to fill the vacancies in some 500 government agencies, which would cost P18 trillion over a six-year term.
He also assured that they will strengthen the fight against corruption by ensuring that the government will be run on a simple principle — that discretion equals corruption.