MANILA, Philippines – Guest senatorial candidates of Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero will not be bound by any special rules, the tandem’s campaign manager said on Thursday, October 29.

Cebu 5th District Representative Ace Durano said in an interview at Club Filipino that there would be “no special rules or treatment” given to their guest candidates, unlike the ruling Liberal Party.

“Yung mga (The) shared [candidates] more the exception than the general rule. Same ang treatment sa lahat (for all). No special rules or special treatments,” Durano told reporters after the announcement of the lineup on Thursday at Club Filipino in San Juan.

He added, “At the end of the day, they were accepted knowing na ganoon ‘yung  political circumstance nila pero transparent naman yung lahat eh (At the end of the day, they were accepted knowing that is their political circumstance but they are all transparent).”

There are 6 guest candidates on the Poe-Escudero slate: Senator Ralph Recto, a Liberal Party member and part of the administration slate; Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno; Senator Vicente Sotto III; former senator Richard Gordon, resigned Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, and migrant workers’ advocate Susan “Toots” Ople.

Only 4 of Poe’s senatorial candidates are in the so-called “Magic 12,” or the number of senators to be elected in 2016, based on the Social Weather Stations survey conducted in September. All of them are guest candidates Sotto, Recto, Gordon, and Zubiri.

‘Individual campaign’

With all this, Durano said the camp would allow each candidate of the “Partido Galing at Puso,” to employ their individual campaign strategies.

Citing the case of Recto, who is widely believed to be prohibited by LP to join the campaign of other presidential candidates, Poe said they understand the difficulty a guest candidate has to go through. 

“Hindi iyon ang kondisyon dahil alam namin gaano kasakit ang official endorsement tapos bigla kang aalisin (That is not the conditition because we know how painful it is to have an official endorsement withdrawn),” Poe said, apparently referring to her experience in 2013 when she and Escudero were dropped from the official United Nationalist Alliance slate.

Poe and Escudero, both official LP senatorial candidates in 2013, were barred from joining the campaign sorties of UNA, where they both started as guest candidates. This prompted UNA to remove them from its official slate.

Asked how they view senatorial bets who would be supporting either a different presidential or vice presidential candidate, Poe said they already knew about the situation.

“Alam ‘nyo alam ni Senator Chiz. Alam ko meron iba sa kanila, bagama’t gusto namin kaming dalawa i-endorso, marahil meron din sila ibang i-eendorso (Senator Chiz knows about this. I know that there are some of them, although they want to endorse the two of us, perhaps they want to endorse someone else),” Poe said. 

Sotto earlier said he support his best friend, Senator Gregorio Honasan, for vice president. Other guest candidates, meanwhile, remain mum on who they will support in 2016.

Campaign details

While they call themselves members of Partido Galing at Puso, Poe admitted they are not an official political party.

She said they would try to have group sorties amid individual plans of each candidate. 

Durano said rallies would be held to “supplement” the individual campaign of candidates.

Poe also did not directly answer questions on the mechanics on party finances – whether individual money or party funds would be used for campaign sorties and events.

“Basta sabi namin sa abot ng aming makakaya ay magtutulungan kaming lahat (We said that we would all help each other the best we can),” Poe said.

“Gaya nga sa Bibliya, napakaraming tao pero kulang ang dalang basket ng pagkain pero dahil sa pananalig at tamang intensyon napupunuan naman ang pangangailangan. Maraming naniniwalang supporters kahit maliliit lang ang ambag, malaki rin ang tulong,” she added.

(As it says in the Bible, there were so many people and not enough baskets of food, but because of faith and the right intention, the needs are fulfilled. There are many supporters who, even if they give small contributions, can help a lot.) – Rappler.com