Escudero: I don’t regret supporting Binay in 2010

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero (Photo from Escudero’s official Facebook page)

MANILA –Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero stated that he did not regret backing Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay’s candidacy in the 2010 national elections.

It can be recalled that in his television commercials during the 2010 campaign period, Escudero endorsed President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for president and Binay for vice president, whereas it was Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II who was Aquino’s running mate then. Aquino and Binay won in the 2010 elections.

In an interview with ANC’s Headstart, Escudero stressed that he did not know anything about the corruption allegations against Binay during those times so there was nothing to regret.

“Knowing what I knew then, no. Knowing what I know now, but then again hindsight is always 20/20. Wala ka nang magagawa nun (There is nothing you can do about it),” he said. “I don’t regret and I cannot change anything in the past. I just learn from it.”

Being criticized for backing Binay then and turning against him now, Escudero cited Aquino’s support for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who also faced graft charges.

“Si Secretary Roxas, si Pangulong Aquino sinuportahan din naman si GMA nun. Nung nalaman nila yung mga ginawa ni GMA, bumitiw at kumalas sila sa pagbigay ng suporta sa kanya. Walang masama dun. Tama lang naman ‘yun nung nalaman nila,” he said.

(Secretary Roxas, President Aquino supported GMA back then. When they learned about what GMA did, they stopped supporting her. There’s nothing wrong with that. It was [the right thing to do] when they found out about it.)

“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.

When asked if he believed that Binay was guilty with the accusations hurled against him, Escudero only commented that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Court of Appeals (CA) found ‘sufficient basis’ to file charges against the Vice President.

“At the very least, there is sufficient basis. Otherwise the AMLC or the CA would not have issued such an order,” he said, admitting that he was one of the senators who signed the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee report recommending filing charges against Binay.

The Vice President has been linked to the overpriced Makati City Hall Building II and the Makati Science High School among other suspicious Makati City government projects when he was still Makati City mayor.

When asked why he did not endorse Roxas instead, Escudero earlier said that he believed an Aquino-Binay tandem would bring forth a balance in the administration.