Escudero files bid for Senate, dispels talk he is bolting UNO

House Minority Leader Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Tuesday morning filed his candidacy for senator, even as his allies in the United Opposition remain locked in negotiations over the final mix of their senatorial ticket, amid a bounty of aspirants. Local movie star and opposition icon Susan Roces, widow of the late actor-politician Fernando Poe Jr, accompanied Escudero in filing his certificate of candidacy. The two heard mass at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros before walking to the nearby Commission on Elections office. Escudero said he filed his candidacy early to dispel rumors that he was bolting the United Opposition, to join the administration slate of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. "Efforts to woo me to the administration side have been going on for big and small issues. What's important is my answer. And my answer is always that I will run under the opposition. However, I am humbled that they have been asking and talking to me," Escudero said in Filipino on dzBB radio. He said the United Opposition, headed by deposed President Joseph Estrada, remains a political force despite the departure of some members. "I filed early to end rumors, the wooing and the worries. I will run under the opposition. Secondly, I want to prove that not everybody is going to leave the opposition. There are candidates, in fact there are many, who we can choose from who will stay aligned with the group," Escudero said. Estrada, in earlier interviews, specifically mentioned Escudero among the "young politicians" who would be given priority in the opposition's senatorial slate. In the latest PulseAsia survey conducted last October 21 to November 8, the 37-year-old lawmaker ranked 14th (with 19.3%) among imminent senatorial bets. Roces said she accompanied Escudero "not for political reasons, it is purely personal." "I'm here because I am accompanying my godson in marriage. Chiz and his wife (Christine) are our godchildren. They asked me respectfully (Nilambing nila ako) if I can come with them when Chiz files his candidacy for the Senate," Roces said in Filipino on dzBB radio. Interestingly, both Roces and President Arroyo are Escudero's god parents in marriage. Escudero was among the chief proponents of the past two impeachment bids against the President. Roces said she supported Escudero because she knew his track record, adding that she would support candidates "who seek the truth." She refused to comment on the candidacies of Sen. Francis Pangilinan as well as former senators Vicente Sotto III and Tessie Aquino Oreta. Pangilinan, who announced his senatorial bid Monday, is running under the Liberal Party wing of Sen. Franklin Drilon. He said merger negotiations with the Nacionalista Party of Senate President Manuel Villar and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino of Sen. Edgardo Angara were ongoing although no final agreement has been achieved yet. Sotto and Oreta, meanwhile, have joined the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) of business tycoon and former Ferdinand Marcos crony, Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr.- GMANews.TV