Heroes?

It takes more than the courage of a hero to forgo an ambition — achievable as it was when the opportunities were clear — and tell the world about it like it is an admission of defeat, even before the real fight is on.

Opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero just proved that, further peeling himself off the traditional set of politicians now banging each other off their heads — and pockets, and showing maturity that would be helpful if and when he decides to take a real shot at the presidency in 2016, when conditions are ripe and the voters hopefully mature enough to understand the issues Chiz had tried to raise when his eyes were still moist looking at the Palace seat and behind, where he left long-time friends and allies whom he felt would only work to keep the order and not institute the changes he has in mind.

Chiz took the populist stands erstwhile heard only from the militant set of society, like saying no to forced contractualization of workers, which is not popular with big business. And yet, he was silently hailed a hero of the poor and the oppressed, until he announced yesterday his decision to no longer seek higher office.

And with it went their hopes, which they will now cling to just any candidate who will get their fancy, and worse, believe in just any hype thrown in a certain candidate’s way that would make the 2010 polls more like classroom elections where the prettiest and most popular get to hold positions which look great on bold colors posted on the classroom wall.

If Chiz were true to his word, he would have made a great president. But that his supporters can only wait for now, until yet another term is over for yet another president, would mean another long wait before real changes could be introduced and achieved, if no one among the present bidders would take a bolder stance against debt servicing, health and education, the environment, graft and corruption, and the like.

Or we’ll be back to our present wall, one that is so big, we can see slums and pushcarts serving as classrooms without leaders, while somebody, like Efren Peñaflorida, newly-named CNN Hero, try to make them as our future leaders, through free education our government can’t really afford to give ALL its people.

Efren huffed more air than any hero did before he embarked on his kariton journey to Kodak Theatre, whose tuxedoed guests, were really never aware of the hardships which are actually the daily grind for the families of Efren’s students, except for the appeal it gives in honoring such heroes, which Efren is one, a shining one amid the litter and garbage and waste of the more affluent.

And then there was Manny Pacquiao, who, despite his excesses, still inspires the nation with his victories, the shining one who rose from the ashes of poverty and unforced hunger, or was it forced by circumstances, until the opportunity to box came?

And then there are our movies, which make it to Cannes and other venues that recognize great works. And yes, some of these movies win, giving our actors and filmmakers the recognition they deserve, yet their subjects mirror the true image of the nation, which, despite the promises of its present and past leaders, is still mired in poverty and seem never would rise, like Pacquiao, from its ashes, unless somebody takes a bold, heroic step to really LEAD the people into taking more drastic steps in shaking the status quo to effect change.

For how can we really treat our overseas Filipino w orkers like heroes when their only purpose is to serve as government’s perennial cash cows, whose rainfall of dollars would never stop unless the rich countries wake up without a need for bellboys and helpers?

But are we really a nation of heroes?

How long will Efren Peñaflorida hog the limelight being given to him, now that he has a chance to build his own learning center using the millions of pesos he won from the CNN tilt?

How long will Manny Pacquiao’s star rise, when soon after his victory over Cotto, his last punch gave way to more intrigues that was aimed solely for his next movie and the millions more he would earn from it?

How long will we wait before another filmmaker shows another ugly side of the Filipino yet remain truthful to his storyline, which the affluent film critics would hail, the more gross the better?

How long will we wait before any of our leaders would take a bolder stance than Chiz did and mean it?

Gloria Part III

Noynoy Aquino gave a scathing review of Gloria Arroyo’s presidency when, in accepting the challenge to seek the top Malacañang post for the Liberal Party, he claimed to expect nothing much to be left by GMA so much so that anybody who emerges victorious in the coming May 2010 polls would face the tough task of rebuilding the nation almost from scratch.

In fact, Noynoy said being successor to Gloria would be a tougher task than Cory had, as a successor to Marcos, as she would leave the country in shambles in only nine years since she took power via Edsa II than Marcos did in more than 20 years since he beat Gloria’s father, Diosdado, in 1965.

Before Noynoy, former President Erap Estrada had given the same prognosis and after Erap, Chiz Escudero shared the same view with the other opposition presidential contenders.

They vowed to take the challenge of the great task that lies ahead if only to pursue the change a great majority of the Filipinos are seeking, calling and wanting, if we are to believe their campaign lines, which until battle time, are pure rhetoric.

Half-a-year is a long wait for a people wanting true change, and while waiting, we should not peel our eyes from Gloria Arroyo and have our thoughts deflected by the entertainment the many presidentiables are giving us.

Arroyo critics are on guard in anticipation of forging midnight deals for her friends, allies and members of her clique.

Already in a panic mode, it is not impossible for Gloria to strike sweetheart deals even with the devil if it would help save her ass when decision times comes.

With six months left in her term, Gloria was said to have hung a Wanted: Lawyer sign at the gates of Malacañang in anticipation of a deluge of criminal cases that would be thrown her way once she steps out of office.

But the top lawyers she has moist eyes on are not biting, even with all the money she can promise. And so she would take a different approach in seeking a congressional seat for her province of Pampanga in hopes her allies now would be her allies still when she seeks the speakership of the Lower House, and hopefully introduce amendments to the Constitution that would make her queen again.

That would be a long shot, as long as the shot Gibo Teodoro wants to make if only to protect his benefactor, who was said to have promised everything to make his campaign roll, even if it means drying up the country’s coffers further.

The House speakership would not give Arroyo immunity from suits, it can only give her a leverage at the most, if she prays none of the genuine opposition groups would emerge winner in the next polls.

Her frequent visits to Pampanga may help her bid, also. But academician Randy David would be a worthy challenger as he vowed to explain to their fellow Pampangos who Gloria Arroyo is.

Gloria’s next Pampanga tryst would also validate people’s suspicion something was in the works while Gloria made frequent returns to Pampanga, whose people now feel so blessed they have found an angel in her, while victims of “Ondoy,” “Pepeng” and “Santi” are still waiting for a miracle to come from elsewhere.

And while her top tax man had quit while admitting government could not meet its budget, there she was spending for all those travels — both overseas and in Pampanga — while she remains insensitive to the plight of many other sectors.

Many others have claimed Gloria could not be sensitive enough to feel her people’s plight, except for those in the radar of her interests, and she had proven this when she spent millions of pesos for expensive dinners and partying while an icon of democracy was being mourned at home.

And yet there beckons a GMA Part III to continue what she had started since Edsa II and the fraudulent 2004 elections.

Batang Trapo

Maybe it was his association with the people he chose that Chiz Escudero earned this tag, unjustly as it was given by mostly members of the so-called civil society who hated his guts and spunk. But the young politician who could be the next president of the Philippines knew his place in politics and what he stood for and against, he preferred to stay true to his oppositionist calling, where his star rose, and vowed not to leave it, until maybe, he wins his presidential bid at a young age of 40.

The attacks were vicious, mostly done through the Internet where the youth navigate their daily lives, assailing Chiz when he did not ride what was then a popular call for former President Estrada’s impeachment; accepted the task as spokesman to Fernando Poe Jr.; stayed true for as long as name and face of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Danding Cojuangco’s party; and, by virtue of his name and birth, he was lambasted for being the son of a Marcos crony, one which I think, he has no power to change.

He weathered all these to rise as one of the most recognizable faces in the Senate, and a presidential timber as such, that he had completed his ascent from being a practicing lawyer to a three-term congressman. But he reached his present apex with a party machinery behind him, the same one he turned his back on when he gave his political career a new direction by taking a more progressive and populist stance, a gambit, if it could be called such, that could backfire in his chance if it not handled properly, as it takes honesty to one’s calling to make it real and make it work.

Young as he is, Chiz is not known to make hasty decisions. Chiz studies his options, and he had proven his mettle when he did not ride the wave that gave his other young colleagues in Congress, like Mike Defensor and Migs Zubiri, their political stars by ganging up on Erap, only to become apologists for a corrupt Gloria Arroyo government later on.

Chiz chose the less treaded path by taking the side of the beaten. He chose to be persecuted with Erap, laughed at with FPJ. He chose to go against party policies at times, and yet, he still rose to become the NPC’s most recognizable figure, even more popular than Danding, on whose hands the party’s future depends.

But Danding may no longer need a Chiz Escudero in the party he founded to propel his failed bid for the presidency in 1992. He could support any candidate and be friends with any president, past and future, as he had completely erased the stigma of 1986, when Edsa momentarily changed his fortune.

There were times when Chiz proved his independence from the NPC when he went against the party stand on matters like the Jpepa. And last week, Chiz completely broke his ties with his political benefactor, choosing instead to work with the people, as he claimed his intention is going party-less with hopes reform-minded and progressive parties would gravitate toward him when, and if ever, the presidential contest of 2010 would still become a five-cornered fight.

As it is, Chiz remains only one of the true oppositionists in the field, the other being comebacking presidential candidate Erap. In the event Erap’s candidacy is given the thumbs down by the Supreme Court, with the expected much prodding from Gloria, Chiz could stand true to the claim of being the genuine opposition to GMA.

By cutting his ties with the NPC, however, Chiz hopes to reclaim support which gravitated toward Noynoy, mostly middle-class and civil society groups which are the same faces that ousted Erap from Malacañang in 2001.

Chiz has also come into his own when he chose to go it alone and be free from party dictates and shun influence by personalities with known traditional politics trappings.

Minority political players, like the Magdalo and the FPJPM, have stuck with him, and are now working to bolster his image as a non-trapo candidate.

It took an 11-year wait for Chiz to shed the image tagged behind his back by mostly self-righteous political players. With what he did last week, we can say he has proved himself he is not trapo.

Chiz is now his own man.