Category: grace poe

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

tricky times

medyo di ako makapaniwala na maaaring hindi si mar roxas ang i-annoint ni presidente aquino na kandidato ng liberal party sa 2016.  parang walang-utang-na-loob ang dating nito sa akin.  kahit pa sabihing mar had no choice but to put off his own plans of running for president given the clamor for noynoy in 2009 in the wake of cory’s demise.  because mar could have handled it differently, he could have resisted some, he could have tried to convince cory’s kids, and nation, na maigi kung mag-VP muna si noynoy, get into the groove, ika nga.

hindi naman kaila sa ating mga beterano sa bantay-pulitika na noynoy was kind of a non-performer in congress during his three terms in the lower house and half-term in the senate.  ang tsismis pa nga e kung hindi siya ipinangampanya ni cory at ni kris nuong 1998, 2001, 2004, at 2007 ay wala siyang panalo.

my favorite anecdote about his days in the lower house was told by no less than bff butch abad in some tv show after cory’s death but before he, noynoy, became a candidate for president.

say ni butch abad, a close friend of the family, nagkasabay sila ni noynoy sa house of reps (malamang nuong panahon ni gloria kung kailan usong uso ang televised debates and hearings).  kung minsan daw, tinatawagan siya ni cory, na nanonood pala, at itinatanong kung nasaan si noynoy, bakit wala si noynoy, and butch would daw say, baka ho natutulog pa.  or something to that effect.  of course such stories stopped the moment he decided to run.

bentang-benta kay noynoy noon, just as bentang-benta kay grace ngayon, ang notion na it’s now or never.  run while the clamor is insane.  but imagine if noynoy had run for VP muna and campaigned like hell for mar — tiyak, tumba pa rin si erap.  then he could have asked president mar for the mindanao portfolio, since napaka-dear-to-his-heart pala ang bangsamoro, and used the 6 years to quietly do his homework, due diligence ika nga.  what a powerpacked 2016 inaugural it could have been if he had surprised the nation with a report on his meetings with ALL factions in the autonomous region and he would be certifying as urgent his own draft proposal for a revitalized ARMM.

i know.  pipe dream.  water under the bridge.  right now, the question is, what is all this panliligaw kay grace poe all about?  is he seriously considering sidelining, instead of throwing all his support behind, mar roxas?  the more the prez keeps the nation hanging, the more i wonder if he might do a cory, who did not feel obliged to honor any promises made to doy laurel when he gave way to her and slid down to VP back in ’85-’86.

what intrigues me most though is that grace seems most receptive to the president’s advances — kilig to the bones? — even as she has started to echo the yellow army’s anti-binay sentiments.  what i really want to know is where she stands on chacha, especially proposed amendments to economic provisions.  or maybe we should be asking chiz.  argh.

fifty shades of grace

nothing sexist, of course, even if grace poe is undoubtedly the sexiest politician around here these days (loren, miriam, pia, cynthia, and nancy must be so inggit).   she is so politically desirable either as running mate of mar, jojo, bongbong or erap, OR, kung anti-binay social media bandwagon ang masusunod, as presidential candidate herself, and naturally matindi masugid masipag ang panliligaw ang panunuyo ang panunukso sa senadora over the last thirteen months since she first said no.

just a year ago, in march 2014 to be exact, the newbie senator, who topped the 2013 senatorial race as independent-kuno, was asked if she had plans of running for higher office in 2016.

The senator said in an interview with ANC that she knows her limitation and feels “awkward and embarrassed” whenever people urge her to seek the Presidency or vice presidency in 2016.

“You also have to know your limitations. At this point, I really don’t have the machinery, the experience is not also there and more importantly, what my father has gone through,” she told ANC.

… Poe refused to bank on her popularity last election, saying the same thing happened to her father, who eventually lost because of unsustained campaign, besides being allegedly cheated.

“He was such a front runner also at that time, (people telling him) ‘you can do it’, ‘you can do it’, but when he looked back towards the middle of the campaign, he lost the support,” she recalled.

She said, although she was not the candidate at that time, it was a painful learning experience for her.

yes, experience is essential, learn the ropes first, figure out for yourself what ails the system and how to change it to favor the majority, for a change.  then in 2022 you and the country won’t be at the mercy of “advisers” with dubious and/or inappropriate agendas.

even as the demonization of binay proceeded in the senate and in mainstream and social media, and her survey numbers started going up, closing in on binay’s for president, when asked last december 2014 re 2016, senator poe  had not changed her mind…

“That increased number is truly heartwarming to be honest but, as of this time, it does not shake off the real reasons I have said before that deter me from even seriously considering to run in 2016,” Poe said in a text message Tuesday night.

“There are still so much to do in the Senate that needs my full attention and efforts,” she added.

… even if “as of this time” made me nervous.  parang biglang ayaw magsalita nang tapos.  and true enough, just four months later, in april 2015 she had changed her tune, her tone, her mind?  Poe rejects VP run, said an unnamed source to manila times.  Is Grace Poe running for president? asked manila bulletin, also citing an unnamed source said to be an LP stalwart.

“She doesn’t want to run for vice president. If she will run in 2016, it would be for president. She could be a lock for vice president, but in the long run, she is thinking, how would that work out for her? If she wins as vice president, she will occupy that post until 2022. By that time, she can’t be so sure that she will still enjoy the same high level of popularity and trust of the people, and she knows it,” the source, who has confirmed that some political parties are convincing Poe to be in their team as the vice presidential bet, said.

in other words:

Asked what had convinced the source about the neophyte legislator’s presidential ambition, the LP member said that it simply boils down to timing – and the timing could not be more ripe now for Poe.

“Yung init ng isang candidate is not there forever. Kaya kung hindi niya kukunin ngayon… Baka 2022 hindi na siya ganun ka-init (A candidate won’t be “hot” forever. If she won’t go for it now… she may not be as hot a candidate in 2022),” explained the source.

grace poe has not denied any of the above.  instead we’ve heard of a meeting with the prez na siyempre wala namang nangyari — surely they wanted a mar-grace, not a grace-mar tandem — and then there’s that unequivocal public statement that she will NOT be running with binay in 2016.  in fact she’s engaged in an argument sort of with vp binay who took a snipe at her lack of experience, to which she sniped back, honesty matters more.

what can i say.  the glow is gone.  she was impressive in the senate’s mamasapano hearings, so calm and collected for a newbie, and we cheered when she dared lay the ultimate responsibility at the feet of the president.  no guts, no glory.  but really, still a newbie.  she folded too soon on the matter of national security and executive privilege, she seemed surprised that no one dared speak freely about the elephant-in-the-room america.  someone more experienced, historically grounded, and attuned to the public pulse would have tested the limits, allowed questions and sought answers re the nature and extent of american engagement, even put it to a vote in case of objections.  it would have been immensely educational for nation, which ever way it went.

she has lost her glow, may inis sa mukha, may init ng ulo, when i saw her last night in a newscast, responding to binay’s call for experienced leaders.  but the honesty line doesn’t wash because, really, a president has to be more than just honest and open.  a president needs to have a certain grasp of national and international affairs and a sense of govenment policies that need changing if one truly wishes to make a difference.

times like this i remember how in erap’s time, when we were so disappointed that he couldn’t wouldn’t stop the VFA — done deal na raw since FVR’s time — his defense secretary orly mercado added that there are some things one does not see until one is president, as in, the view is different from the driver’s seat.  he did not elaborate, of course, but it tells us that we don’t need or want another newbie who thinks s/he can wing it by the grace of god.

of course i could be mistaken.  maybe i’m underestimating her.  maybe she has a vision, a dream for nation that is more than a string of motherhood statements.  maybe she has a plan, a platform of government, designed to finally bridge the yawning gap between rich and poor.  but if not, then better to sit it out in 2016 than be like FPJ who had nothing much to say when he was campaigning in 2004, puro papogi lang, thinking that  his supra-human demigod moviestar image would be enough to win him the election.

as for that piece of trapo wisdom that it’s now or never for grace poe and the presidency — by 2022 someone else might have captured the public imagination — that’s a lot of hogwash.  even, possibly, a dirty trick — rushing her into something she’s not ready for, the more quickly to neutralize her once binay is out of the way.

fact is, grace poe will always be interesting because of her top-of-the-line showbiz ties, complete with urban legend re the identities of her biological parents.  but that’s another story.  right, kuya?

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Chasing Grace
Binay, BBL and big brother
The FPJ Bomb in a Populist Lamp