It’s the presidency or nothing for Sen. Francis Escudero.
Escudero, who made the improbable decision to bolt the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), said he was running for the highest post, ending speculations that he would be willing to run as the No. 2 to one of the presidential aspirants.
“It’s the presidency but not at all cost,” Escudero said in a phone interview Friday.
“If on your way there you will be eaten up by the system then what for? You can’t do what needs to be done anyway,” he said, by way of explaining his sudden decision to quit the second largest political party in the country and run for president as an independent.
Dismissing doubts about his chances without a political party vehicle, he dared his rivals to do the same.
“They should ask themselves that same question. For example, can they take a position vs pork barrel, can they openly fight contractualization?” he said.
Escudero shocked his party mates when he resigned last Wednesday from the NPC, which had been grooming him for months to be its standard-bearer for 2010, in order to ponder whether he should run for the presidency without a party.
