NACIONALISTA PARTY ALREADY TAKING POTSHOTS ON 'CHIZ' ESCUDERO OF NPC
MANILA, AUGUST 18, 2009 (PHILIPPINE STAR) By Delon Porcalla - Election season is here, and the gloves are coming off.
This early, Nacionalista Party (NP) spokespersons are taking potshots at Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).
Lawyer Adel Tamano said Escudero would surely lose in the May 2010 presidential elections if poverty were the barometer, since his home province of Sorsogon remains one of the poorest in the country.
Tamano said that Sorsogon should have been the “showcase” of the opposition senator.
“Chiz is a friend, but I think anybody who aspires to be president must be able to show that he has done something for the people. I think it’s fair to ask: What have you done for your district?” he asked.
“He needs to show that he has proven something,” he added.
Tamano, who belongs to the NP senatorial slate of projected standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar, also cited the long period of time in which Escudero could have best helped his province, since he served as Sorsogon congressman for three terms or nine years until 2007, when he became senator.
“Chiz is very intelligent and articulate, but people will ask: What achievements has he done to deserve our support? He spent nine years as a congressman, it’s better if we have a basis to show how your district developed,” he added.
Tamano’s fellow NP senatorial candidate, former Cavite representative Gilbert Remulla, echoed the same sentiments.
The relationship between Escudero and Remulla, former colleagues in Congress, went sour in May 2007.
Escudero, who will be turning 40 on Oct. 10 and therefore qualified to run for president, is among the frontrunners in the surveys, ranking third in the June 19-22 survey of Social Weather Stations.
According to his website (www.chizescudero.com), the former congressman said one of the laws he helped pass was Republic Act 8980, entitled “An Act Promulgating a Comprehensive Policy and a National System for Early Childhood Care and Development.”
House records showed that in the nine years Escudero spent as congressman of the first district of Sorsogon, he helped pass eight laws – four broadcasting franchise laws, two local measures including Sorsogon cityhood, one renaming the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) to DepEd and the last regulating the practice of veterinary medicine.
His father, Salvador III, a veterinarian by profession, has since taken his congressional seat back, following the election of his son to the Senate in 2007.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2009 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
6 comments:
That is true.
Sorsogon province remains the poorest in the Philippines.
Does anyone see the face of Escudero give support to victims of natural calamities in the Bicol region?
Of course not. He's busy in Manila trying to be a movie star.
Of course, we should also keep in mind that Francis Escudero is not really a pure bred Sorsoganon, much less a Bicolano. He was born in Manila whose mother is the daughter of a well known law professor. Of course, his father is from Sorsogon (SPHS Class of 1957) but he grew up in Manila. As far as I know, he did not even go to any school in Sorsogon at any level.
He did not go back to Sorsogon until he started running for office. I'm not even sure that he knew how to speak Bicol (or Sorsoganon) until he went into politics. I don't really believe that he has the interest of Sorsogon at heart. He has been using Sorsogon as a base for his political ambitions. If he ever becomes President, it would be best if Sorsoganons do not expect much from him so that they could avoid disappointment. The people of Metro Manila would benefit more from an Escudero presidency.
At best, an Escudero presidency could only be a source of reflected pride based on the fact that his father is from Sorsogon.
My, my, my. If all of the above comments and Tamano’s are true, how did he advance to the Senate? What were the constituents thinking? How dumb can voters go? I could give a little leeway to voters who are dirt poor and have children to feed---perhaps they have to cling on to something even as razor-edged as any politician’s insincere, self-serving, devious speech and hand-outs and the surrender of one’s dignity---all for a little token that could somehow feed the brood. How can anyone watch a child go hungry?
Republic Act 8980, entitled “An Act Promulgating a Comprehensive Policy and a National System for Early Childhood Care and Development.” This is interesting, and if I have to go by just the literal meaning of the words of this act, it is quite promising and something to uphold if only for the future. My question: Did the children of Sorsogon benefit at all from this? According to the news, Escudero seems to be proud of his role in passing this law. And how did the other 8 laws he helped pass as congressman assist the poor? Hello, there is such a thing as “priorities”.
Makes me wonder, how “thick” really do politicians go?
Generally speaking, people are drawn towards what is familiar to them: places, countrymen, family names, activities, etc. It is parochial in most ways. There is also the urge to patronize recognizable persons-in-progress because of the subconscious desire to be uplifted, be it through someone else who they think “belongs” to them or somehow has a connection to them. Therefore, the success of this individual makes them proud, albeit lacking in substance. Think about this and politics. You be the judge.
Go to any rural area, or to to any squatter part of the urban area in the Philippines and you will see the poorest of the poor.
Sorsogon is poor but in all my travels I did not see any place or province which is better. Nor do I know of any politician who had done better for his contituents. They all want to accumulate power and wealth. Those include any politician supported by Tamano and those he is against.
I am always leery of politicians including their supporters.
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