I had expected Sen. Francis Escudero to withdraw his candidacy during a press conference he had scheduled last week at the Club Filipino in Greenhills. This was based on earlier reports that his patron at the Nationalist People’s Coalition, businessman Danding Cojuangco, had decided to patch up differences with his estranged cousin, Peping Cojuangco, to support their nephew, Sen. Bengingo “Noynoy” Aquino III. It also came to mind that Escudero had realized he was down in the surveys, and knew when to call it quits and reset his sights to 2016.
Although he did not make it clear whether or not he would pursue his presidential bid, he shocked the Philippine political arena when he announced that he was resigning from the NPC, the party that had nurtured his political career for 11 years. He gave three reasons for his surprise decision, but it all boils down to one thing – that a presidential candidate must not be beholden to a party or a patron but should only be answerable to the people.
It was a bold statement, but expected nevertheless, from a young politician whose phenomenal rise could be attributed to his consistent opposition to the corruption and inefficiency of the Arroyo administration. And yet, his decision remains suspect because of his 11-year association with Cojuangco, his steadfast defense of then President Joseph Estrada during the impeachment trials and EDSA 2, and his role as the leader of a youthful gang of congressmen who tried to impeach then Chief Justice Hilario Davide obviously to avenge the latter’s role in legalizing Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s power grab.
Has Escudero finally seen the light, and has decided it was time to put an end to the politics of patronage that has pervaded the Philippines’ political landscape for generations? Or has he remained the hypocritical Escudero who would make bold statements to win the crowd? Has Escudero really risen from his blind loyalty to his party and to his benefactor to become the leader of a movement to bring real change to the Philippine political system? Or was it just a reckless move that he would conveniently forget later on?
Political pundits will continue to second-guess Escudero’s motives in the next few days until the young senator from Sorsogon makes known his plan for the presidential race.
Columnist and political strategist Lito Banayo, who has been involved in many successful post-martial law political campaigns, insists that Escudero will pursue his presidential bid. He has announced, in fact, that he is suspending his columns at the Malaya newspaper because he has accepted an offer to be a political consultant for a presidential aspirant, who turned out to be Escucero.
Banayo said his condition in accepting Escudero’s offer was a commitment that the young senator would not abandon his presidential bid, to which, he said, the latter agreed. But why the delay in making his final announcement? Was it, in public relations lingo, to create suspense and drama, and ultimately, make the greatest impact?
Escudero’s announcement at the Club Filipino left more questions than answers. Will he continue his presidential bid? If he does, how will he put up political machinery without an organized group or party to support him? If he organizes a new group outside of the traditional parties, would he not be beholden to this group? How will he finance his campaign, knowing fully well that an effective presidential campaign under the present corrupt electoral system could cost a minimum of P5 billion? Can he rally the people to put up that much money in so short a time? If one or a few believers put up a huge sum, wouldn’t he be beholden to them, too?
Escudero may have committed a political blunder in making a general castigation of political parties. While there is truth to his statement that the present state of political parties have made it difficult for presidents and elected officials to govern, it is only because political parties in the Philippines are not based on ideology or platforms, but more on personalities and political exigencies.
Political parties, if based on ideology, principles and platforms, are a necessity in democratic governments. Escudero was wrong in saying he does not need a party to become president. He needs an organized group that reflects his own beliefs and principles to help him convince the electorate of the merits of his ideas, principles and platforms. He cannot do it alone.
The problem is not that an elected official is beholden to a party, but that many of our leaders are not beholden to any moral principle or political ideology at all, and are beholden only to their greed and personal aggrandizement. I would rather that a president be committed to a party that has only the best interests of the people as its goals, than a president acting on his own.
Eventually, Escudero would need a political party to pursue his political career. It may not be too late to clarify his position and state that he would start a political party that would have a pro-people agenda, one that would bring genuine reforms to the country’s political, social and economic systems, and one that would be categorical and specific in its commitment to serve the people.
And yet, making any kind of turn in his statement against political parties could be seen as an inability to make good judgment, or as a tendency to make hasty and unwise decisions, certainly not good traits for a president.
He has much to think about in the next few days, too much, in fact, for such a young man. So much is at stake for this young senator who had shown much promise in his political career.
Perhaps we can glean from a statement he made in an interview with a reporter when he was 35 in interpreting his actions in the past week and in the coming days:
“Three years is too short for a good official, too long for a bad one. Four is ideal. I feel tired—I used to have only five white hairs!—but I still want to find out, at age 35, if this will still be my career path or whether I should move to the private sector. I wouldn’t want to reach 50 still hoping to be something in government which I can never be.”
Will he ever be? President, that is?
(valabelgas@aol.com)