Category: chiz escudero

Belated Independence, Say Chiz

So the high point of the day-after was the viral vin d’honneur video clip of the First Lady in white terno taking the Senate Prez’s wine from his hand, gulping some of it down, then handing back the glass with nary a glance at Chiz, sabay turn away to be served her own glass by a waiter who enters frame from behind just then.

My first reaction was: OMG why didn’t she have her own glass?!  And then: Hmm, close ba sila ni Chiz, and Liza wants us all to know? O hindi sila close pero uhaw na uhaw na si Ma’am and she was sure Chiz wouldn’t mind?

But wait, parang this all took place pala BEFORE the President’s speech after which he asked some 80 attendees headed by the diplomatic corps to join him in ceremonial toast “to stronger bilateral relations, the good health and prosperity of all present, and the continued progress of the Philippines’ —  kung kailan, at saka lang, the drinking officially was to begin.

Kumbaga, korek me if I’m wrong, the First Lady broke protocol by imbibing, on cam yet, from someone else’s glass yet, before it was time.

What’s the harm? Well, an occultist might say the good vibes of the toast may have been somewhat diminished, as in, nausog, napangunahan kasi, knock on wood.

At the very least, it tells the world that this Mrs. Marcos is not a stickler for protocol, whatever the consequences. Whether that rubs off on the Prez or not is, of course, up to him.

Naturally the anti-Marcos trolls are having a field day, kesyo Liza helping herself to Chiz’s drink without a by-your-leave sent the message that she “owns” him (or something like that) and, even, that it was the Palace that got him elected Senate president (or something like that), and siyempre nauungkat din na he is close talaga to the Marcoses because his father was an original Marcos crony (agri sector).

Thing is, Chiz’s dad did his part for the Marcoses naman. In 2011 Sorsogon Rep. Salvador “Sonny” Escudero spearheaded the campaign to bury Marcos in Libingan ng mga Bayani and got 204 (of 284) members of Congress to sign the Resolution, which no doubt was a factor (among others) in Duterte’s decision to order the hero’s burial for Marcos soon after he was elected president in 2016.  https://globalnation.inquirer.net/148397/148397

Kumbaga, may leverage din si Chiz. And baka naman puwedeng quits-quits na, as in, bayád na, clean slate na. Because Chiz needs all the leeway he can get to make the Senate even more independent and brave than it was back in the days of SP Salonga. We want him to succeed in shepherding his colleagues toward a consensus on, and heartfelt support of, what constitutes the “common good” … “common” referring to the masses, the majority, the people, and not the Senate, or Congress, or Judiciary, or the oligarchs or plutocrats, and certainly not the Palace.

Here’s a candid comment to Rod Kapunan’s Jun15 column “Escudero fixing Senate subservience, sanity” where Chiz is hailed for, among other things, suspending construction of the new senate building in BGC.

Maximillian80: That “waiter” incident in Malacanang did not make him look good and most certainly FL who unwittingly may have forgotten that she’s in a formal event with the eyes of media and voyeurs in attendance. Excuses and damage control made matters even more ridiculous. The body language showed who’s Boss ? Can Chiz prove otherwise? For FL, just do what GMA did by saying: I AM SORRY.  https://disqus.com/by/disqus_uELSsmv3Lx/?

Kung tutuusin nga, it’s Liza who owes Chiz now, and he can be the gentleman who calls it quits just so he can truly move on and show us what the second generation is made of.

I’m not sure though about a GMA kind of I-AM-SORRY. Liza isn’t an elected official and maybe doesn’t owe us all an apology. Unless of course the diplomatic corps and our protocol officers at the Department of Foreign Affairs think she should, and dare say so.

Senate Prez Chiz

Surprise, surprise, Sen. Bato got his 4th PDEA hearing last Monday (so much for my fearless forecast), and former LizaMarcos-law-partner Paquito Ochoa made an appearance and denied having anything to do with the aborted PDEA investigation. Short and sweet.

Then came the contempt citations on Jonathan Morales and Erik Santiago, which didn’t really surprise — napuno finally ang salop nina Bato at Jinggoy. What was curious was Chiz dropping in with a weird rather out-of-place smile on his face, which only made sense later in the day when I heard of the plenary session and caught him delivering his first speech as Senate Prez. Kaya pala. What a coup.

Of course my first thought was, the Palace must be pleased: the first couple was surely unhappy that Migs allowed the PDEA hearings at all, and that the chacha train has yet to get moving.

But Chiz says tuloytuloy ang PDEA probe, and he is still against chacha and does not plan to change his position.

And then again, what’s left ba for Bato to probe? The alleged threats to harm Morales? But the source Erik Santiago has already testified that he was lying, kathang isip lang yung kuwento niyang pinapatahimik ni Liza Marcos si Morales via a James Kumar who has already issued a statement denying it all. I guess Bato is simply leaving no bato unturned in case he gets lucky and some legit info turns up?

As for charter change, Migs has pointed out that not all the senators who voted for Chiz are also anti-chacha. “Strange bedfellows” indeed.

But knowing Chiz, a very public figure (more so since Heart entered his life) who’s impressively smart, sharp, and politically savvy, I can believe that the coup was on his own initiative, and, even, that he has a game plan in aid of restoring the independence of the Senate.  The shining example, of course, is 1991 when, against President Cory’s wishes, the Senate led by Jovito Salonga voted against the US bases.

“The proposed treaty is overwhelmingly one-sided and lopsided in favor of the United States,” said Sen. Agapito Aquino, the president’s brother-in-law, who voted against the treaty.

“I love my country more than I love my president,” he said. https://www.latimes.com/archives/

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“Orocan moments” by Ana Marie Pamintuan
“The beheading” by Lito Banayo

escudero, marcos, libingan ng mga bayani

last year, september 22 2014, to be exact, senator chiz escudero urged president aquino to allow the burial of marcos in libingan ng mga bayani to heal the wounds of the past.

Escudero said the fact that Marcos was a former president and soldier cannot be denied and based on these two things alone, he deserves to be buried at the Libingan. 

“… sa ganang akin (nararapat ito) para matuldukan na natin… yung 40-year rebellion nga sa Mindanao matutuldukan na, apatnapung taon na yun. Ito magtatatlumpung taon na,” he said.

“Wala namang debate na naging head of state sya. Wala namang debate na sundalo siya. If only because of those two facts, siguro marapat na bigyan natin siya ng karampatang paglilibing dahil anuman ang reklamo, ano man ang diumano ay ginawa o hindi niya ginawa bilang pangulo, o ginawa o hindi ginawa bilang sundalo, nanatili pa ring tutuong naging head of state siya at naging dating sundalo siya,” Escudero said.

exactly a year later, the vp wanna-be alleges that some twisting of his statement(s) happened, even if i don’t see any twisting, just an attempt by the good senator to sort of elaborate on the matter, not to deny anything he said.

“Of course people have been twisting that statement to simply mean to bury him at Libingan ng mga Bayani. But what I actually said was that issue is 30 years old. Can we finally address or settle it one way or the other, and not simply ignore it, brush it aside, and sweep it under the rug?”

… “He must be given a final resting place, wherever that may be,” said Escudero. “Government should address it and government should decide on it, of course in consultation with the family.” 

seems to me that the good senator is barking up the wrong tree.  the government has always said no to a marcos burial in libingan ng mga bayani.  it’s the marcoses who refuse to bury the patriarch anywhere else.  it”s the marcoses who refuse to concede, insisting that their patriarch deserves nothing less than a hero’s burial.  who knows, maybe it was a dying wish, and maybe imelda and the kids are willing to wait as long as it takes for a president who will say yes.

i wonder what grace poe thinks.  may i suggest that the prez wanna-be read of the damage marcos inflicted on nation: alfred mccoy’s notes on the Dark Legacy: Human rights under the Marcos regime.  and ninotchka rosca’s The day Manila fell silent.  and susan quimpo’s I saw martial law up close and personal.  and leloy claudio in The Marcos years were not the PHL’s golden era.  and monica feria’s Sept 22-23: Our lives changed overnight.  and kris lanot lacaba’s The torture of my father and other stories.  for starters.

donald trump & grace poe

i love the way donald trump is rocking the boat of the republicans, which suddenly makes me wonder if maybe i should be loving, too, the way grace poe is rocking the boat of the liberals so-called.

but then trump dares talk issues, never mind that he offends sensibilities with his political incorrectness.  poe for her part has yet to talk issues, baka pinag-aaralan pinag-iisipan pa niya, with a lot of help and input from her favored vicepresidentiable chiz escudero.  baka di pa tapos ang tutorial.

siguro kung di niya kailangan si chiz, siguro kung wala siyang chiz na kabuntot, kakayanin kong ibigay kay grace ang benefit of the doubt.  i saw that news report of her and chiz in  coronadal, south cotabato — on the invitation nga ba of NPC? is chiz back in the good graces of NPC because he has grace?

and in a short clip from her speech, some 24 seconds long, grace managed to mention chiz three times.

Ikinagagalak ko po na isa sa nagawa namin, kasama ni Senator Chiz, na dumaan at dumadaan na po ang BBL sa senado, gaya nga po ng sinabi ni Senator Chiz, ang mga probisyon dito ay kailangan nating pangalagaan.  maganda nga po ang national roads niyo dito  pero nasabi din sa akin ni Senator Chiz na marami pang kailangang gawin sa mga provincial roads.

ano daw?

as for teddy locsin calling idiotic the idea that grace should get some more experience muna in preparation for a 2022 run — for a while there i thought he might have some significant insight or info that would change my mind, but no.  as usual, he’s just being flippant, mocking, even satirical:

In our kind of government, which is modeled after the American, no experience is needed or asked for. Indeed, experience is what screws up your electoral chances unless you can hide it. Hillary Clinton has much to brag about and therefore much to be attacked for. Mar has served in the past 3 administrations—look where he is in the ranking.

As for the presidency, the job is easier than it makes itself out to be. It requires minimal intelligence to get by; though some cunning to get more done. It has an unlimited number of experts on call (and unlimited cash to pay them with) unless you prefer the company of friends. Even then, you’ll get by. And the media—from fear or for favor—will shower you with praises in the first half of your term.

You don’t pay for your mistakes; the country pays for them.

In the Philippine experience, nobody learns anything useful and good from serving in any administration, including not repeating the same mistakes. It is the same with any government experience, even on the local level: look at Binay.

locsin does not mention chiz at all.  in ANC’s coronadal report, walang sound bites from chiz even if he also gave a speech.  it’s almost as if he’s being ignored.  aray.  but that’s what he gets for piggybacking on grace’s popularity instead of standing on his own.

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http://www.philstar.com/opinion/518995/unraveling-chiz-escudero