Category: chiz escudero

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

walang kamatayang pork barrel

so, we’ve been had, we who rejoiced when the supreme court declared the PDAF unconstitutional last november and thought we had heard, seen, the last of it.

Pork Barrel is very much alive and kicking! warns prof. ben diokno.  and, like Dracula, the pork barrel is alive, in another guise, bewails neal cruz.

as it turns out, only 15 of the 24 senators gave up their pork barrel.  9 senators — the cayetano sibs, the estrada-ejercito sibs, lapid, trillanes, recto, and miriam — did not, and instead “realigned” their PDAFs with the budget of one or another line agency, or the calamity fund, in the bicam- and senate-approved 2014 budget that the prez signed into law last december.

senator chiz escudero, chairman of the senate finance committee, and very much the pilosopo lawyer, justifies it thus:

Is the realignment legal or constitutional in the light of the high court’s decision on the PDAF?

Yes, says Sen. Francis Escudero, chair of the Senate finance committee. The realignments (Escudero calls them “amendments”) came before the implementation of the P2.265-trillion national budget, he says.

The high court had declared unconstitutional all provisions of the law that allowed legislators “to wield any form of post-enactment authority in the implementation of the budget.”

But Escudero says the identification of beneficiaries of the realigned PDAF “does not violate” the high court’s ruling. “It’s well within our right to review and approve the budget,” he says. “This is preenactment intervention.”

say rin ni bayan muna partylist rep neri colmenares:

“The Supreme Court was not clear on whether lawmakers could realign the funds or not because it is clear that Congress has the power of the purse and has the prerogative where government money should be spent,” says Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares. “What it was clear on was that lump-sum items should be discontinued and that everything in the budget should be itemized.”

Members of the House had realigned a much bigger amount—P930 billion, including the PDAF. 

at parang tuwang-tuwa lang si senator chiz, as in, tipong naisahan nila ang presidente?

“In accordance with the powers of Congress, all of us can introduce an amendment. That’s our legislative power. If the President submits the budget, we can’t skirt our duty to amend it. What are we, a rubber stamp?” Escudero said by phone, chuckling. 

more like, naisahan ang anti-pork people’s movement, as in, nakahanap sila ng legal loophole (salamat sa supremes?) and it’s as if the people’s outcry against all pork-n-patronage fell on deaf ears.  it’s as if two of the nine senators, estrada and revilla, were not facing charges of receiving substantial kickbacks from fake NGOs identified with the notorious accused napoles.  and it’s as if the other seven senators were themselves untouched by any suspicion of similar kickbacks in the past.

of course, it might be that these realignments no longer allow kickbacks of any sort in any way.  if so, i wish they’d come right out and say it, assure us na, wala na pong kickback.  but of course they won’t because it would be to admit na oo nga, dati ay may kickback.

but, hey, jinggoy estrada, who aligned half his PDAF to the budget of the City of Manila of which his tatay, ex-prez erap, is mayor, is the most unrepentant, defiant, shameless, and brazen of them all.  hiyang hiya naman ako for the senate, who allowed him to gift his tatay’s city hall with a hundred million bucks.  hiyang hiya rin ako for erap, who had no idea daw that it was coming, and who doesn’t have the sense to say no-thanks, kahit out of delicadeza man lang.

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pahabol.  say ng grapevine, the supreme court is poised to rule vs erap in the disqualification case filed by ex-mayor fred lim.  if true, it would serve jinggoy right.

the audacity of chiz

nagulat ako kay chiz.   nagulat ako nang sabihin niyang he’s out of the nationalist people’s coalition, that is, out of the shadow of party bosses playing traditional politics.    napa-wow ako sa kanyang declaration of independence, at sa wari ko ba, as i watched him declare himself a free man, free to serve the filipino people as they deserve and not as a political party dictates, i swear his aura changed, gumaan at umangat, at nagkaroon ng ibang kislap ang kanyang mga mata, no kidding!   it must be, like, you know, liberating?

before this, since ondoy, i’ve been saying to anyone who asked kung kanino ba ako na i will campaign and vote for the candidate who will promise to clean up not just the government but also the environment, and one who has the character and the personality to impose and implement a zero waste policy nationwide, which would mean radical changes all around that should shake up the system.   to my disappointment, i’ve heard nothing like this from manny, gibo, noynoy, erap, or chiz.   BUT to the credit of chiz, he was is the only presidentiable who has  concrete proposals re the relocation and rehabilitation of flood victims to alleviate  suffering.   This one in particular was an unexpected surprise:

Sen. Francis Escudero asked landlords to help in rehabilitation efforts by donating land to be developed into relocation sites.

“If they have a hundred hectares, perhaps it will not be too much to ask for them to donate 10 hectares,” he added.

i wondered of course what danding would have had to say to that.    it might even explain the rumored limited funding by npc.   but whatever triggered offchiz’s decision to bolt the party, it doesn’t matter as much as the fact that he bolted.

While Escudero’s resignation surprised many, a lawmaker from the militant Bayan Muna party-list group welcomed the move.

It is “a major political development in the presidential race. His move to bolt the NPC is a welcome move that should develop his capacity to take on many people’s issues in performing his duties to the people,” Rep. Satur Ocampo said.

Ocampo dared other aspirants to also take the stand of Escudero.

Rep. Mong Palatino of Kabataan party-list group said that the senator’s move could usher in “platform-based politics” in the 2010 polls.

this is even bigger and braver than mar roxas sliding down to vp.   suddenly noynoy isn’t such a sure thing.   audacious chiz is looking smelling talking good.   the game continues to change.   noynoy has some catching up to do.