After reading last week’s article on ‘Positive Change’, some friends were caught by surprise by my POSITIVE comments on Sorsogon Rep. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero. Well, the truth is ‘Chiz’, in my opinion, is the only bright light in the otherwise dim Opposition corner. His sharp mind coupled with his glib tongue and fluent grasp of English, mastered, no doubt, during his studies at Harvard, have given him a commanding advantage over the ‘lesser mortals’ in Congress, who got there by dint of their ‘dynastic relations’, their ‘undeclared pelf’, or by their own double-faced ‘bluffs’! Sosmaryosep! Most Congressmen in both Houses have been sitting in their chairs for several terms and the only English word they have managed to utter is: “present”! These guys have, unfortunately, been voted into office just to CO-SPONSOR bills, collect their Community Development Funds (most of which just go to Dummy Contractors for OVERPRICED projects the excess of which tend to go back to them via the long dummy depositors’ route!), use their influence to sign and approve horizontal projects in exchange for some tracts of land in some otherwise dirt-cheap locations, plant their minions in strategic places, from the Baranggay up, in order to shore-up their political bases for future political exercises, and get what they want, when they want it! Mama Mia! Talk about Politics being the most lucrative enterprise on earth, maybe even beating Illegal Drugs, Gambling, and Smuggling, by a mile! Getting into Politics automatically makes one a Beneficiary of a good percentage of the booty of all these Socio-Political Scourges of Mankind COMBINED!

        ‘Chiz’ Escudero just after he arrived from his Post-Grad studies in Harvard, and before he ran for Congress, stood as principal sponsor, together with my wife, Bebot, and our close family friend, ‘spik and span’ Romy Tan of LCC, in her first cousin, Amy Antivola-Cruz’s wedding in Legaspi. Amy’s hubby, Rico, is Chiz’s second cousin, so in Politics, as in life, what else is new? Anyway, if ever, I really don’t find anything ‘wrong’ with voting for and supporting ‘Chiz’ since I really have nothing personal against the Opposition. I just don’t quite agree with their belligerent stance vs. almost everything connected with Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo even if they’ve really got the right to disagree with her politics!

        Bicol Politics now seems to have gotten stuck in a RUT! The ‘best President that we never had’ just seems to have run out of gas in the home stretch or, maybe, the Guy up there just had to take him away and prevent him from being all mired up in the dirty game of Politics where Money is God, and God is Money! Of course, talk about Bicol Politics will automatically also have to revolve around Rep. Rolando ‘Nonoy’ Andaya, Jr., another astute Bicolano man of Integrity whose father, former Rep. Rolando Andaya, Sr. or ‘Tio Lando’, was one of my father’s best friends and ‘glassmates’. Then we also have Bicolano ‘Grandmaster’, Rep. Luis R. Villafuerte, the ‘kingmaker’ who’s also a ‘King’ in his own right as he used to be the Minister of Government Reorganization during Pres. Cory’s time! Talk about Bicol and, especially, Naga City politics will never be complete without mentioning the ‘Boy’ Mayor who has now become a grown-up man of Politics all in the span of 18 or more years, to the point that he has mastered the delicate Art of Mayorship and built countless kilometers of roads which, if all done SIMULTANEOUSLY would have consumed enough cement bags that could circumnavigate the globe! Mayor Jessie Robredo, of course, has no other recourse than to keep running for City Mayor, for lack of any better political position to aspire for, perhaps. Or could it be he just so loves the Mayorship he has found that his Leadership Talents are just good enough for a City Mayor, and he just might be afraid of ‘overextending’ his ‘boundaries’? Like Dirty Harry he knows that “A man must know his limitations”! Albay Politicians, with the distinct exception of ‘Chiz’ Escudero, are a meek and manageable bunch who just love to do their work and get things done, like Reps. Joey Salceda, Edsel Lagman, and Carlos Imperial. The rest who I have, inadvertently, forgotten, perhaps, deserve to be forgotten. No hard feelings!

        We, Bicolanos can no longer afford to keep living in Raul Roco’s past tense and all the things he was and could have been. Content that he was able to place Bicol, and especially Naga City, on the Political Map, let us now try to move on, get our heads AND HEARTS together in order to be able to form ONE BIG SOLID BICOL BLOCK whose sole purpose is to push a Bicolano all the way UP to the PRESIDENCY or PRIME MINISTERSHIP, if Cha-Cha prevails. The Solid North has proven time and again that ‘sinner or saint’ they will always love their very own sons, come hell or high water! Crab Mentality must now give way to ONE MENTALITY! We cannot all be Presidents but we can all help one of our very own win that much coveted Seat in Malacanang. We just have to content ourselves with whatever our Almighty God has given us. Hope, by now, our ALMOST omnipotent Bishops have realized this. We only have ONE GOD and He hates to have any competitive ‘little gods’ before Him! Mama Mia! Oh how the Pharisees loved to thump their chests and shout out their ‘holier than thou’ self-righteous and self-serving praises to win God’s good graces, as if doing so would fool God into believing that they were just as good and righteous as God Himself!

        Whether he runs for Senator or Member of Parliament next year Bicolano Escudero WILL have my vote and unflinching support! I cannot, for the love of Bicol, have it any other way. So, whether you’re for or against P.G.M.A. please don’t forget to be FOR THE PHILIPPINES FIRST and BICOL SECOND! It really is no big deal trying to get Gloria out as it is helping ‘Chiz’ get into the Palace! So Bicolanos, let’s really have ONE big, resounding voice and shout: Let’s have CHIZ FOR A CHANGE!