THE United Nationalist Alliance said Tuesday it respected the decision of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada to support Senator Grace Poe’s presidential bid in the May national elections.
The group said it did not really expect Estrada to endorse Vice President Jejomar Binay.
UNA interim president and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said it had been expected of Estrada to support Poe especially after the Supreme Court cleared her to run for president after finding her to be a natural-born citizen.
“It was expected because Erap said he would be for Poe if she was not disqualified, but if she was disqualified he would go for Binay,” Tiangco said.
“We respect his decision and we wish him luck in his campaign for mayor.”
Estrada on Tuesday said the political old guards must give way to a new generation of leaders, a statement he made when asked if his support of Poe might cause Binay to harbor ill-feelings against him.
“I can’t do anything about it. That’s what my heart tells me,” he said.
Binay was the running mate of Estrada when the actor turned politician ran but lost to then Senator Benigno Aquino III in the 2010 presidential race.
Poe, meanwhile, said she and Estrada had not been talking about the case of his son Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who is facing a plunder charges over the P10-billion pork barrel scam.
Estrada’s endorsement finally ended the months-long speculation over his preferred presidential candidate.
Binay’s daughter, Makati Rep. Abigail Binay, said the relationship between the Estradas and Binays would likely remain intact.
“We think that with the long time we’ve spent together with the Estrada family, this will not be a reason for us to stop being friends again,” she said.
Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino and Binay’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan joined forces to form UNA for the 2013 elections. It was relaunched as a political party in 2015.