Escudero on Roxas: I wish him well

Despite their supposed rift during the campaign period, Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Tuesday said he is wishing his colleague and Liberal Party vice presidential bet Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II well. Escudero said he hopes they can work for the country “in whatever capacity," regardless of how Roxas fares in the elections. “I wish him well. Whatever the outcome of the elections may finally be, I hope we can work for the country and our people in whatever capacity," he said in a chance interview in Quezon City. Although Escudero supported the candidacy of LP standard-bearer Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III in the May 10 elections, he had campaigned for Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) vice presidential bet Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay instead of Roxas. Speculations are rife that Roxas and Escudero are both eyeing the presidency in 2016. Escudero said Roxas has no reason to harbor ill feelings at him for supporting Binay, adding that Roxas should instead respect the decision of those who did not vote for him. No ill feelings, please He also said that even Aquino, considered a runaway winner in the presidential race after getting some 14 million votes, still has to contend with the fact that 36 million did not vote for him. “Mahirap magalit sa mga hindi bumoto at sumuporta sa iyo dahil mas marami sila palagi (I hope Roxas does not get mad at me. It is hard to get mad at those who did not vote for you because there are more of them than those who voted for you)," he said. On the other hand, Escudero said he already made it clear to Aquino as early as January that he would campaign for Binay and not Roxas. He said he told Aquino that supporting Binay was his personal decision. Escudero also refused to say the game is over for Roxas, who still trails Binay based on unofficial counts. A GMA News partial and unofficial tally as of 3:42 p.m. Tuesday showed Binay ahead in the vice presidential race with 13,492,375 votes compared to Roxas' 12,680,050. The LP, however, said that based on the 88 certificates of canvass (COC) that the party has access to as the dominant minority party, Roxas is ahead of Binay by 137,404 votes. - KBK, GMANews.TV