No one will replace the common candidates the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) has just dropped from its senatorial slate.
UNA secretary-general Tobias "Toby" Tiangco denied reports the opposition coalition is trying to replace Senator Loren Legarda, Senator Francis Escudero and former censors chief Grace Poe.
"The United Nationalist Alliance holds in high regard the candidacies of Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Mayor Edward Hagedorn and (Bayan Muna party-list) Rep. Teddy Casino," Tiangco said in a statement.
"But UNA has not officially made and will not make an offer for them to join us as guest candidates. We have no plans of replacing the three former guest candidates," he added.
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Tiangco, who also serves as UNA's campaign manager, explained the
executive leadership did not drop the common bets just to replace them
with obligations to new guest candidates.
He reiterated UNA freed
themselves of any obligation to campaign for Legarda, Escudero, and
Poe-Llamanzares so the entire coalition can move on and focus on their
campaign.
"We will focus on our nine UNA candidates," Tiangco noted.
On
Thursday, UNA senatorial candidate Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito-Estrada
said his father former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada had unofficially
talked to Villanueva, and Hagedorn.
Ejercito-Estrada confirmed
his father, one of the three top leaders in UNA, confirmed he has talked
to Villanueva and Hagedorn as their "personal friend".
The San
Juan City lawmaker also admitted he has personally been thinking of
campaigning for Casino, who has been his fellow lawmaker in the House of
Representatives.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party-led team PNoy has seen the move from UNA coming inevitably.
Team
PNoy spokesperson Federico Romero "Miro" Quimbo said he is surprised it
took UNA too long to realize its failure to force the three candidates
to appear at their campaign rallies.
“Its nothing but a
confirmation of what we’ve been saying all along – that the three have
always been Team PNoy’s and the opposition simply adopted them to
complete its lackluster slate,” Quimbo said.
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LP spokesman Lorenzo
"Erin" Tanada III said UNA was just trying to save its face when it
dropped Legarda, Escudero, and Poe-Llamanzares to cover "how empty UNA's
platform of government is."
“It is a party in disarray, with no sense of what it represents and where it wants to go,” Tanada said.
Another Team PNoy spokesperson said the dropping of the common bets is a sign that UNA has become a sinking ship.
“Nobody wants to be with them. It has come to a point that being identified with UNA is a kiss of death," Evardone said.
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He added that on Monday, UNA sent the common bets letters to join UNA in their proclamation rally in Pampanga. But none of the three showed up for their event in the province on Wednesday.
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