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Senator Francis Escudero, who is rumored to be running for higher office in 2016, said in a Wed, Jul 28, interview that he has no regrets supporting the vice presidential candidacy of Jejomar Binay in 2010.
Escudero came out in TV ads in 2010 supporting the candidacies of Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Aquino III and opposition candidate Jejomar Binay. Both candidates won in the 2010 polls.
Speaking to ANC’s Headstart, the senator said he does not regret supporting Binay since he did not know about the corruption allegations against the then Makati mayor.
“Knowing what I knew then, no. Knowing what I know now, but then again hindsight is 20/20. You can’t do anything about it anymore,” he said.
He compared his support for Binay to President Aquino’s and Secretary Mar Roxas’ own support for then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2004 before allegations of widespread cheating came out.
“Si Secretary Roxas at Pangulong Aquino sinuportahan din si GMA nun. Nung nalaman nila ang mga ginawa ni GMA, bumitiw at kumalas sila sa pagbigay ng suporta sa kanya. Walang masama dun (Secretary Roxas and President Aquino had supported GMA in the past. However, when they knew about her alleged wrongdoing, they broke away from her also. There’s nothing wrong with that),” he said.
“I don’t regret anything I’ve done simply because I did not know those things at that time…I do not regret and it is not my habit to regret the things that I’ve done. I learn from it. I pick up from it but I do not regret it,” he added.
Escudero pointed out that while there were allegations of corruption against Binay before the 2010 polls, the testimonies and other evidence only came to the fore after the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee started its investigation on anomalies during Binay’s time as mayor.
Among the allegations are the rigging of biddings for various infrastructure projects including the Makati Science High School and Makati City Hall Building II; and the Binay family’s alleged ownership of huge tracts of land in Rosario, Batangas.
He noted the Court of Appeals has already issued a freeze order on 242 assets of Binay and his associates based on the recommendation of the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
“At the very least, there is sufficient basis. Otherwise the AMLC or the CA would not have issued such an order,” he said.
The senator is one of several signatories to the committee report recommending the filing of charges against Binay and several others in connection with the Makati corruption allegations. He said this is in compliance with Binay’s own request that he be given his day in court.
Photo: Chiz Escudero’s Twitter Page
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
