SENATOR Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s resignation from two key Senate committees because of his political plans for next year is a good move because it will prevent criticism that he is using public funds for his campaign, Senator Grace Poe said on Tuesday.
But Escudero’s decision to run for a higher office next year does not necessarily mean Poe has also made up her mind about making a bid for the presidency in 2016.
Escudero announced his resignation as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and co-chairman of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures because of he wants the deliberation on the country’s largest national budget in history to be free of politics.
“I believe that it behooves me to step down at this juncture to ensure that deliberations on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) – considered the single most important piece of legislation passed by Congress each year – are untainted by suspicions or perceptions of partisan politics,” Escudero said in his resignation letter to Senate President Franklin Drilon.
“It is, Mr. President, what propriety requires; it is, I believe, what our people expect from us all: delicadeza,” he added.
Drilon commended Escudero for shielding deliberations on the 2016 national budget from possible allegations of partisanship and said he will confer with other senators to determine who will succeed Escudero.
“It’s an indication that he is more sure to run,” Poe said, “but it’s not an indication about my (political plan).”
“I’m still thoroughly thinking but I’m happy he already has a decision. That would be good for him,” added Poe, the current topnotcher in all voter preference surveys.
But Poe she would have told Escudero the same thing had he sought her opinion on the matter.
“It would be much better if they can say you remain untarnished and you have no influence on decisions where money will be placed,” she said.
“It is more fragile and delicate if we are talking about public funds. You can really be accused of using it (public funds) for self interest so that Senator Chiz did the right thing in giving up these committees,” Poe added.
While repeatedly saying he has not yet reached a final decision on his political plans in 2016, Escudero is among the prospective candidates for vice president and is supposedly being eyed as Poe’s running mate.
“[But] ff those having money, machinery and the party have not yet declared or make an announcement, how can I do that when I don’t have those three?” Escudero said.
“So there is more need to decide and weigh (things). I was newly wed so that’s another thing that I need to weigh,” explained Escudero who married actress Heart Evangelista last February 15, 2015.
“I don’t want the budget to be tainted with allegations that it is being used or it was being used for a particular political interest or partisan political activity,” he said.
The senator, who is among the frontrunners in the vice presidential race, said he would rather quit his current positions than be accused of using the two senate panels to further his political ambitions.
Unlike the other committees, he said the two are considered “powerful” in Congress.
As finance panel chief, the senator was responsible for streamlining a number of budget activities and instituting safeguard mechanisms in the national spending program to prevent abuse and misuse of public funds.
“That’s why maybe some of those who are running or planning to run do not need to resign from their positions, but because the issue here is finances, allocations ad resources, I chose to resign out of delicadeza,” he further told reporters.
Despite his resignation, Escudero said he will remain a member of the majority bloc in the Senate and reiterated his commitment to pass the 2016 budget law with safeguards to guarantee that it complies with the Supreme Court rulings on the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program.
