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.
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The problem with Chiz is that his stand on issues is based on personalities and not with principles. He equates opposition as being against Arroyo and nothing but. Can't he see contradiction when he smells corruption from the Arroyos and not from Erap or better yet, Danding? Now that he is now his own man, as you would say, does he shed off the blinders too? Or was it, just a gambit.
ReplyDeleteI would still want to see him one day become our country's leader. But not now, as he still has to take his lessons in full.