Senator Chiz Escudero’s resignation from his own party last week was a shock for most Filipinos who follow politics, there were lingering doubts regarding Senator Escudero’s financing of his presidential bid, even if he didn’t yet announce his intentions. But online video ads, participation in “presidential debates”, and the coyness of both his party and himself with regards to the “presidential” questions, belied the fact of what we already knew, and that he was and may still be eyeing the presidency. But his sudden resignation from The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) last week gave us even more questions than answers.
It gave us more questions than answers, only because of the way he has defended his statement that money was and is not a problem, and that one key reason for resigning is that a president should not be beholden to a political party, but only to the party of The Filipino people. Very poetic in nature, but a flawed argument nonetheless.
First of all, for the past ten years, Senator Escudero has been a member of a party that has fielded its own Presidential Candidate, is he then implying that these past Presidential Candidates were always and could have been beholden to their party more so than The Filipino People, because they did not resign?
It’s a simple excercise in logic, reasoning, and argumenation that debunks his excuse. Something that should not be lost to such a gifted individual such as Senator Escudero. It’s a reasoning that is full of rhetoric but still without reason. It is hypocrisy that does not make sense at all.
If he cannot condone it now, then why has he condoned it in the past? Is it only right for him, and him alone, to institute a self pompous decree that no presidential candidate be part of any party?
It’s a respectable stand, if and only if, he stands firm and thus states that indeed he has been wrong for his entire political career, because it was in The NPC that as a congressman and a Senator, that he himself has endorsed his own party’s presidential candidate election after election.
For any politician, however, to declare oneself to have been wrong, especially for the span of an entire decade, that indeed is something more of wishful thinking on our part than actual reality.
If he wishes to go this route, then Senator Escudero himself, has inherently pushed for a politics of no party. Because, how can he say that only a president alone, if indeed true, is beholden to a party, and other officials such as senators, or a congressmen, governors, or even mayors and councilors all across the nation are not? If he wishes that no president be beholden to any party, and his solution is thus a complete resignation from such a party, then why stop there?
Does it not beg the question, if Escudero sees fit presidential candidates to resign from their own parties, why then does he not ask others the same “patriotism”. Is it alright then for Senators to be beholden to their party?
So, you see, the patriotic rhetoric that we should be for the Filipino party is pure rhetoric if he does not address his past stance, and if he doesn’t clarify the question of party affiliation across the board and not only on the level of presidential candidates. Because if he truly wants to change this nation for the better, then surely he can’t believe that it is only a president that makes or breaks this nation. Does he? That if he wishes a president to abolish this stagnation due to party affiliation, then he must call on all to resign from their own parties and push all of them to join the party of The Filipino People.
And I’m guessing, he will lead this new party? That is until he sees fit another good reason to resign maybe.
It’s no stretch of any logical faculty that there is a corollation between party affiliation and a presidential candidates loyalty, but it does not follow, however, that 100% devotion to a party absolutely and unequivocally goes above and beyond the will of the people especially if that party has a good moral and administrative standing and a strong conviction towards service and governance of its citizens and of the nation.
Again, as stated in the beginning of this article, there are more questions than answers still lingering. And if Chiz Escudero does not push for anything else with regards to political parties, and if he does not admit his past affiliations as being totally wrong, then we can absolutely deduce, without the shadow of a doubt, that Senator Escudero has hypocrisy written all over him.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Chiz “Education Czar” Escudero is utterly pointless.
Dapat daw walang party pero less is required pag Congressman o Senator ka.
Nakatali daw paa at nadidiktahan pag may party pero nung tinanong ni Failon ng mga ehemplo, sabi ni Chiz ni minsan hindi siya nadiktahan ng party. So para saan pa yang mga pinagdadakdak niyang mga dahilan.
Melodrama lang yang pagkalas ni Chiz. Ika ng mga kabataaan, Emo lang yang.
sus hanggang dito nashman nagba bad motuhing ka kay Chiz. hindi kaya aware ka lang sa pag resign ni Chiz dahil malakas siya sa kabataan. sinisiran mo dito si Chiz. hindi naman tanga ang mga tao na nagbabasa sa blog na ito. may kasabihan tayo…ika nga ” PAGKA ANG ISANG PUNO AY HITIK SA BUNGA ITO AY BINABATO DAHIL MABUNGA ITO”.at isa ka na sa pumupukol sa bunga ng Puno ni chiz at alam mo wala ka talaga ka sense sense dito. ikaw siguro under de saya ka no kaya ganyan takbo ng utak mo at wala ka sariling disposisyon sa buhay mo!
if you notice, oddly enough, almost all of chiz’s critics are noynoy supporters
Chiz now is not only trying hard to ape Obama, he wants to do something better than the American President. Obama needed the support of the democrats to win, while Chiz don’t. In short, Chiz is better than Obama.ROFL!!!
bakit ko kailangan siraan si Chiz “Boy Laway” Escudero? He doesn’t need any help, he is doing that to himself.
Hitik sa bunga? Si Chiz? Diba kulelat siya sa survey?
During the Middle Ages; when Monarchy, Feudalism, and the Roman
Catholic Church were the undisputed powers. To advocate Democracy
would had been a death sentence to anybody on the burning stake.
I dont know what is in Mr. Escuderos’s mind. It may be a radical
shift of politics. Or just that he ate a lot of “pulutan” to have him
have an Indigestion to make him think that way. Politics in the Philippines is bizarre. It defies imagination. Watch for the next
“ecsena”. It could be interesting.
Political stunts:
Al Gore declaring himself the underdog during the 2000 US presidential campaign.
John McCain stopping his campaign so he can join the financial bailout debate during the 2008 US presidential campaign.
Chiz Escudero resigning from the NPC and declaring that presidential candidates should not be beholden to a political party, but only to the party of The Filipino people. Escudero should at least have the decency to join the presidential race
Nick, what you’ve written point to an Escudero who is throwing a tantrum because the frustration is, he probably will not be able to be president. At least not in 2010.
Sun Tzu has an advice that I suppose Chiz Escudero ought to listen to. I paraphrase: “haste, fear of being labeled a coward should not affect command decision making.”
I say this because, it is my opinion that it is history, not his party that is giving Escudero the finger. Everyone else has been swept aside by an Aquino candidacy, which this election is, so far, Noynoy Aquino’s to lose.
Escudero of course has no place now. Funds are diverted elsewhere. Estrada himself is running. Villar is as well and the NPC of course, will not fund an Escudero campaign. Escudero therefore is being hung to dry.
The vice presidency is more tangible. Legarda has no hope to win against Roxas, who Aquino will carry. Escudero versus Roxas on the Vice Presidency match is a far more interesting race and attainable at this point.
Then again, this self-destruction from Escudero is mere excuse for him not to run because deep down, he doesn’t want to be president. If so, he should simply swallow his pride and throw in his support for one of the candidates in the circus. That’s what a statesman would do. Maybe it is time to graduate to one.
Curiosly, I find Chiz sympathetic. First time kong naka connect sa kanya. Totoong tao din pala. I mean, I identify with him now. For prez? Not a chance. It’s like voting for myself. BrianB for president, anyone?
If you can do a Loren and provide free haircuts and medical checkups at your campaign rallies, you have a chance.
I said I’m just curious. A little slothful to do campaigning this time of year.
Two things:
First, I totally agree with all of cocoy’s assertions. A presidential run by Chiz would be a political suicide. The best option for him I think would be to run as an independent vice-presidential candidate, and declare his support for Noynoy the llamado candidate for president, thus shaving some more votes from Mar Roxas, thus enhancing his chances of winning the vice-presidency.
Second, with regards Nick’s points in this post, it will not be too late for Chiz to rectify his recent error. He should apologise, declare that party affiliation is necessary in any political skirmishes, that he was taken out of context. This will highlight some weakness in him, he’s only human, but might also arouse sympathy.
A man with so much passion for his career, masaklap madiskaril…chizecsena illustrates how shallow pinoy politics is…walang ugat, walang partido na may prinsipyo…akala ko pa naman pag-asa ng kabataan…kabatang trapo….
hi nick,
nice entry. what is your easiest (least complicated) explanation on his retreat?
this must have been his last hurrah (parang si erap). kung mag-fail itong ginawa niyang gimmick at hindi siya umangat sa survey, wala na.
tapos ang karir.
Chiz should disappear for a week — go to a nun monastery for a week to seek the truth. Siguradong he can do a Noynoy to discover what his next steps should be.
We dont know what Noynoy did with the Nuns while
on retreat…
Probably wear the habit?
i think it is best that he doesn’t run in 2010.
freeze the dream, rather than risk and loose (loose in the elections, and loose his followers)
“Something that should not be lost to such a gifted individual such as Senator Escudero.”
Do you mean gifted in the sense that handicapped people are considered “gifted”? The man seems rather the cat in the china shop, leaping from shelf to shelf creating catastrophes (“down with math!”), and pontificating this way and that. He lacks the power of a bull like Villar, who can destroy the shop with one good well-placed expressway, or the deft touch of Aquino who floats aimlessly through the shop on gossamer wings of yellow ribbon, or Toreodoro (sic, heh) adrift between isles 2 and 3 in a tin bath tub as he lacks a good rubber boat, or Erap who is groggily swapping the china for poker chips and booze.
I don’t think he is so gifted right now, frankly, and he ought to just go off and do something quiet and constructive for six years, mature, calm down, get some perspective, and try it again with a little less strident striving for attention.
As to political parties, I have come to believe they should be banned, as they generally prove undemocratic, suppressing free expression of their members by holding up bribes for compliance. In the US, they are the main reason the government is locked down in nasty slime wars that have nothing to do with the people’s interest or solving problems. Here, the candidates sell their souls to the moneyed families and screw the citizens for payback.
Joe
The rhetorical notion of political suicide, if and when, Chiz runs for the presidency is grossly lacking in elemental pragmatism.
I thought Chiz does not cease to be a senator – even as a presidential loser?
That is a matter of “principle and conviction”, come to think of it.
Falling out of grace of the Party is rather commonplace.
FVR is one. BF is another. Chiz neither adds nor subtracts from the reality that just like the other two, he will have to bolt out of the league.
Placed on a matrix, obviously Chiz is playing kid as if Philippine politics were just ordinary fun.
That said, it is not as if the younger breed of politicians will raise the level of maturity in contemporary Philippine political culture some notches higher.
Fact is, we probably do not need “greenhorns” in these troubled times. We need one tested in performance.
Ask me who I have in mind? Answer: BAYANI FERNANDO
What did Bayani Fernando did with the Squatters at the
Laguna de Bay? They were the cause of the floodings. He looked
the other way. He did not solve the problem. So much for tested
leadership. If you did not do your job well. Results cannot lie! How much more for the national problem, if he is the President.
I think the guy is grossly incompetent. I would not even hire him as a worker in my company, if I have one.
Squatting as a social problem is a local government concern and therefore it behooves upon the local chief executive to trim if not eliminate the mushrooming of squatters.
For instance, it is said that half the population of Antipolo City are squatters and since this phenomenon continues, it reflects upon the gross incompetence if the not the utter lack of political will of the local chief executive who should address this vicious societal concern.
In his own turf, BF proved to us how he transformed Marikina City as one of the four global cities in terms of criteria set.
The metropolis is about being transformed in the same fashion had it been so that local chief executives manifest strong political will to really address the problem and not look upon squatters as a voting bloc.
BF espouses “workplace economics” and therefore we can say that he thinks not piecemeal but utopia. This country does not need a piecemeal approach or a grocery-list approach to effect the desired change. We should subscribe to UTOPIAN SOCIAL ENGINEERING, or that grand-scale approach in solving large societal problems.
Leave flooding to BF for the next 6 years, please?
If you are a Governor of Metro Manila. You dont point the
blame on Local Governments. Much more to the National Government. You do something about it! The flooding issue has been there since I was a student. Several Metro Manila Governors have come and gone. Yet, the Squatters and flooding problems are not resolved. Instead, it multiplied to the whole Metro Manila, and to the nearby areas. Do these leaders have eyes? We are looking for good leaders who have the GUTS to accept responsibility. Not leaders who point the blame to other people or to the situations. If you cannot solve the problems. Tell the people honestly.
Unless the thinking of most Filipinos and their leaders
change. No amount of good sounding economic and social formulas can give the desired results of change.
During the middle of the 18th century. We have the
Divine Rights concept for Kings. It was changed to
Democratic governments by the begining of the 19th
century. So, the way we Filipinos think must change.
In politics, economics and the way we live. First step
is to elect good, sincere and capable leaders. We dont
want gimmicks, paid advocates to sell them to voters,
or celebrity standing. STAND ON YOUR AGENDAS, NOT HIDDEN
AGENDAS. WE ARE NOT FOOLS!
Hyden, without the squatters, there wouldn’t be captive voters. Its an insane endless loop.
Tumiwalag si Chiz sa NPC at hinamon n’ya ang ibang presidentiables na umalis na rin sa kani-kanilang partido. Ang analogy ko rito ay parang sinabi ni Bin Laden kay Obama na “kung tunay kang lalaki, magsuntukan na lang tayo!” (Of course, in English n’ya sasabihin ‘yun.)
Paano kung tumakbo’t manalo si Chiz, ‘di kaya siya maging “beholden” sa kanyang mga volunteers, supporters, at donors? Kung takot s’ya na baka hindi siya maka-hindi sa partidong tutulong sa kan’ya, makaka-hindi ba siya sa mga taga-suporta n’ya?
Parang ayaw kong ipagsapalaran ang anim na taon para malaman ang sagot d’un.
Dont fill your head with speculations. Just watch the next
episode.
Yup, you are be right. Don’t fill my head with speculations.
Kaso, naisip ko, isn’t choosing who to support, at this time, is also speculating? Alam na ba natin ang mga gagawin ng mga kandito sakaling mahalal sila?
Come to think of it, aren’t some of the posts here also speculating?
Kaya nga nagtatanong. And if my questions won’t be answered when election time comes, I better not take the chance to know the answers after May 2010.
Well we will have to see if he pushes for a no party system for all position levels. But I don’t see this happening as he said that in a “higher obligation” that he resigned from his party. But if he pushes for this, I think this would reinforce even further (if not impose) his principles in what he sees in an elected officer.
Well that may be the case as it can be very plausible. He could have saw these past conventions and could be trying something new for a change not mainly for implicating past actions.
I am imagining if a lowly no-name person doing this at the start of his career that he would have been eaten by the system. Realistically speaking, this would have been the case of Chiz and he knew it. If he’s being criticized for pushing for no party politics now, what prevents him from being criticized having less popularity then?
chiz is pure rhetoric. sabi nga niya sa profiles ni lazaro: “e wala na ngang ginagawa hindi pa magsasalita?” hah! ano ba yun?!
I wish people can see right thru Chiz Escudero’s drama and rhetoric. I have never felt so drained listening to one man talk. He is all BS.
Nakinabang siya ng isang dekada being a member of NPC and then all of a sudden, he develops a conscience and starts spewing this crap about how one should not be beholden to one’s party yada,yada yada….
How convenient is that?
Hoy Chiz, explain mo muna kung bakit nanguna ka sa pagi-impeach kay Chief Justice Davide noong mga panahong nasa “opposition” ka sa Congress.
I have never really liked Chiz from the start. I find him opportunistic. He became a household name not because of any spectacular achievement but by dishing out unending diatribe against GMA. He became a poster boy of those opposed to GMA and Chiz played this role to the hilt.
Who says the youths are his for the taking? All reputable surveys show that this ain’t the case. I don’t know why some people continue to take him seriously. His thinking is so flawed and his personality too.