United Opposition president and Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay Thursday thanked Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero and party-list group Ang Ladlad for backing his bid for the vice presidency.

“I thank my friend and my kumpare Chiz. Coming from a well-loved and principled individual, it is certainly a boost to my campaign for good governance. However, I would like to emphasize that in this race, Erap is my guy,” he said.

Escudero might have chosen to endorse Binay as his vice president, but the senator’s bid for president is Liberal Party’s Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Earlier, Escudero confirmed his decision to endorse Aquino and Binay instead of the former’s running mate Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

“I believe that when you choose a tandem it is better if that tandem is mixed, a fusion of diverse qualities. For me it is the combination of Noynoy’s heart and the performance of Binay and I do not see any other reason why this partnership would not result to good governance,” Escudero said on  Thursday in a radio interview.

At the same time, Escudero also denied that he supported a "Noynoy-Binay" tandem because he could face off against Roxas in the 2016 presidential election.

“That is still too far and there will still be lot of things that will happen before 2016. That is not my primary motive in deciding who to support now. If it is really for Mar then who are we to prevent destiny from happening,” the opposition senator said.

Escudero also cited his reasons why he choose to endorse his candidates for president and vice president who belong to two different political parties.

“First I am not a member of LP and thus I am not bound by party discipline to endorse their entire lineup. Second, we do not have block voting. And third, this is part of a democratic society and I have every right to endorse any candidate I want,” he said. with a report by Roy C. Mabasa)