Chiz: PGP won't accept LP members linked to Napoles

APALIT, PAMPANGA — Senator Francis Escudero on Tuesday said Liberal Party members with alleged links to alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles will not be accepted in their camp.

Escudero, the running mate of presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe, said they are open to accepting LP stalwarts who will back their candidacies.

“Politics is addition, bakit hindi?” the senator said when asked whether their coalition, named Partido Galing at Puso (PGP), will accept members from LP.

“[Pero] depende rin siyempre kung sino. Eh baka kamag-anak ni Napoles na Liberal Party, eh 'di hindi,” he told reporters at the sidelines of PGP’s public consultation here.

Escudero did not elaborate on what he meant by “kamag-anak ni Napoles.”

The controversial businesswoman is tagged as the brains behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

According to a 2015 report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, 38 of the 114 legislators allegedly involved in questionable pork-funded projects from 2007 to 2008 belonged to the LP-led coalition.

Thirty-three, meanwhile, belong to opposition parties while the rest are either dead or have unknown political affiliations.

Several politicians are expected to jump ship to Poe and Escudero’s camp after the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the country’s second largest political party, expressed its support for their candidacies.

Pressed if some LP members have sent feelers of joining their camp, Escudero said: “Ayoko silang pangunahan. Hayaan nating manggaling sa kanila. Tulad ng NPC, ni minsan 'di naman namin sila pinangunahan.”

The senator said the NPC’s endorsement is a major boost to his and Poe’s respective electoral bids considering the party’s size and resources.

“Malaking bagay ‘yon. Hindi maikakaila ‘yun. Pangalawang pinakamalaking partido ang NPC at ayon mismo sa kanila, ikakampanya nila kami sa lahat ng kanilang mga miyembro,” he said.

The NPC, which was founded by billionaire Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, has fielded a total of 4,129 candidates for various national and local positions in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez, a spokesperson for the LP, said they are not worried if some of their members will jump ship and join the NPC two months before the elections.

"Not at all. Ever since Mar declared his intention to run last year, after PNoy endorsed him, there have been rumors of a "mass exodus.' It has not materialized," Gutierrez said in a text message.

"Our base remains solid, and we are confident our supporters will stand firm till the elections," he added. —ALG/KG, GMA News