Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero has refused to comment about the rumored involvement of former President Joseph Estrada in the rift between him and Rey and Cecile Ongpauco , who have been vocal about their disapproval of him for their daughter, actress Heart Evangelista.

“Ayoko nang isipin ‘yon (I don’t want to think about it),” he was quoted by PEP.ph as telling TV host Karen Davila on the April 3 episode of the ANC morning show Headstart after she revealed that the Ongpaucos are said to be close to the former president, who is now running for Manila mayor.

Although Escudero does not have evidence to prove that the Estrada was involved, he did remark that he wouldn’t be surprised if the rumor turned out to be true.

“Sa pulitika, lahat ng bagay palaging possible,” he said. “Sa tinagal-tagal ko sa pulitika, hindi na ako magugulat kabila-kabilang tsismis ang lumalabas. Kung totoo man o hindi, wala naman na sigurong makakaalam o makaka-confirm no’n (Anything is possible in politics. In the many years that I’ve been a politician, I wouldn’t be surprised that intrigues are coming out left and right. No one knows or can confirm whether they are true or not.). [But]where it’s coming from… hopefully we should be able to stand any attack, hopefully we should still be able to stand after any malicious attacks against us—especially if they’re not true.”

The senator also insisted that he is not using his relationship with Evangelista as a way to get more publicity for the upcoming elections.

“Mula’t mula, hiniwalay ko… ang pag-ibig o personal kong buhay sa trabaho ko—hindi ko pinagsasama ‘yan,” he said. “In fact, from the start, and I’ll stand by that, maraming nagsabi na ang relasyon na pinasok ko kay Heart para sa eleksyon o magamit para sumikat, dalhin sa kampanya… May sarili siyang trabaho. Hindi ko isasama ang personal kong buhay sa pulitika (From the very start, I have separated my lovelife and personal life from my work—I would never mix the two together. In fact, from the start, and I’ll stand by that, there are many people who have said that I entered a relationship with Heart for the elections, or that I’m using her to be famous, so I can have someone to campaign for me… She has her own job. I’ll never mix my personal life with politics.). She has never and she will not accompany me in this campaign because she has work to do as well.”

(Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)