Right from the start when he opened his mouth at a news conference he gave on the impeachment of Sara Duterte, Chiz Escudero already gave us a glimpse of his political persona.
First, he is good in making us ordinary citizens dumb and dumberer. He said: “The Constitution does not say ‘immediately.”
For a broken-record reference, this is what Article XI Section 3 No. 4 of the 1987 Constitution says: “In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.”
He then made all of those media persons stupid by NOT referencing the word “forthwith.’ The omission was clearly deliberate. All dictionaries say forthwith means immediately. Not in Chiz Escudero’s vocabulary. He can try submitting his new word entry for the Oxford English Dictionary.
Because of course, the second talent Chiz is good at is word salads. Listen to him talk monotonous platitudes that only justify his personal positions on issues. “Listen to me for it is only I who knows.”
Escudero has very sensitive antennae at which political flavor of the times to align himself with. That is his third talent. In the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona when he was already sitting in the Senate, he voted to convict.
But he qualified that he disapproved of the prosecution’s method in handling the complaints against Corona, albeit he agreed that Corona should have declared his bank deposits.
“Kung ayaw mag deklara, huwag tumakbo (for public office). Kung naninilbihan sa pamahalaan, dapat magdeklara” (If you don’t want to declare, don’t run for public office. If you serve in the government, you must declare).
He then said that all congressmen and senators should sign an unconditional waiver to their bank accounts. His logic: “now, because of Congress, the president and vice president of the nation and other impeachable officers can be removed from office if they do not declare their SALNs.”
There is subtlety there. The act of not declaring bank deposits as contained in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards is impeachable, and not only because Corona was impeached in the House as he attempts to make it appear.
In other words, he could have initially contemplated on acquitting Corona because every other congressman and senator were hiding their bank deposits in their SALNs anyway. But because the Corona impeachment was popular with the public, he voted to convict. Escudero goes by the tide.
There was a more delicate side to Escudero during the Senate trial of Corona. At that time, he was politically identified with Vice President Jejomar Binay. He was thus not in the Aquino stable. And that was the problem because he was believed to be sympathetic to a Corona acquittal, as many were in the beginning of the trial.
There appeared to have been an enticement for him from Malacañang. His mother Evelina Guevarra Escudero was appointed member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines in the period preceding the verdict,
Is horse-trading part of the Escudero hat of talents? Is his vote in an impeachment trial for bargain sale?
If he believes however that a politician is widely unpopular, he will not hesitate to declare his open disavowal of that official. He was not aligned with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In the House, Benigno Aquino III once kidded him that he and Mar Roxas should run as a tandem. His reply: “Only if Mar runs as vice president.” Chiz’s ambition is not a secret.
And so believing that Arroyo’s political capital then was in rapid decline, he did not hesitate to openly disagree with her. He knew where his next votes would come from in the event he runs for the presidency. It will come from the public deeply disenchanted with Arroyo.
When the issue of the anomalous NBN ZTE deal erupted, Escudero sided with the many that Arroyo created a political crisis. He cited “massive election cheating and high level corruption being hang out dry in the open.” When the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a “bland statement” about the Arroyo administration, Escudero went on the offensive.
“PGMA’s trespasses against the Filipino people were the amalgamation of Edsa I and II’s abuses.” The CBCP, he said, should heed the call of the people for PGMA to step down.
Had Arroyo been popular then, would Escudero have spoken like that?
The Chiz ambition was distorted even more by political popularity deceptively created by trolls and social media noise. That is the kind of popularity the Dutertes enjoy – algorithms. Adding to that algorithm is Chiz Escudero. He believes the Duterte “votes” can propel him to his higher ambition and he must use that.
And that is why he does not play to the public’s anger that Sara Duterte must be convicted. He is of the regard that the public can be pooh-poohed.
He might just learn his lesson in a bitter way. Kill the Senate impeachment trial and see if the people will be docile to Chiz Escudero and his conspirators.
Integrity is not one of his talents. We can make him know there is a price to it.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
