Grace Poe's Mindless Rants and Chiz Escudero's hubris

Let's not be fooled. The Inquirer and ABS-CBN 2 described it best---Escudero's proclamation, as well as that of Grace Poe, are like birthday bashes---full of activity and frenzy. Yet, remember that these events only happened here, in Metro Manila, and witnessed by several million outside of MM yet never of the rest of Filipino humanity in other parts. It may affect several voters but the rest of humanity, no.

I, and many others, expected something new from Grace Poe's speech but as expected, nothing. A 20-point agenda you say? Those things which Poe said were "problem areas" are a mishmash of presumptions which have attended the concerns of the government since Day One of this Republic. One Congressman described it best---a copy-paste speech which lacks the proper requisites for a formal program of Government.

Manila mayor Joseph Estrada is right when he said that it Poe's speech was a litany of presumed problems but lacks answers. " Madaling mangako, pero yung pagbigay ng solusyon, paano?" says Estrada, which, for me, is SPOT-ON.

It is the same thing with Escudero's speech although compared with Poe's, the speech of Chiz is better structured. What it terribly lacks is integrity, and honesty.

At one point, Chiz lied when he says that he just live in a townhouse. Watch this Youtube video of Chiz Escudero's powerhouse, and tell me if this is an ordinary townhouse or a mansion see this link.

After you watch this video, Escudero even endorsed Jejomar Binay as his "vice president".

Chiz always says that he is "humbled" and he "humbly" does this and that, yet he delivered it in such a boastful manner that his speech becomes hubris. From being "humbled" to hubris is something which describes fully who Chiz really is.

Chiz is a young legislator and hails from Sorsogon. Question---what is the condition of Sorsogon? The province remains one of the most impoverished places in the Philippines. And in spite that, Escudero can even afford a Balesin wedding.

That event was staged to condition the minds of politicians that Grace Poe is "hot" and "is winnable". That surveys upon surveys point to her as the topmost in the minds of voters and most probably, could even snatch the top post in 2016.

Such conditioning really deadens the mind and puts an extra beat in one's heart. However, ultimately, voting is a rational decision. You cannot just do that--the Filipino voter is a conscious voter.

Poe and Escudero say that they do not intend to build a political party---another lie. They plan to build a coalition party composed of most members of the Nationalist Peoples Coalition (NPC), most members of the Liberals and several from the Nacionalista Party.

Of course, I don't presume that these two are so unrealistic. They know how politics works in the Philippines. And ultimately, you need an organized campaign.

What happens in Metro Manila surely does not affect the provinces. There is a new world out there outside the Metro. That is one valuable lesson in 2004 with the FPJ electoral campaign.

I agree with what an experienced Political Operator whom I was fortunate to converse with several weeks ago---this campaign will start on a high point and will end in a disappointing way.

People are converging towards Poe because of the impression that Poe has tons of monies. Of course, who would not be convinced of Poe's? Talks are rife that Poe has billions to spend for this elections, courtesy, of course, by Ramon S. Ang, her husband's boss. Rumors are spreading that Ang already gave as much as 400 million to Grace Poe.

And you know how politics works in the Philippines---people will go to you because you have monies. When you lose it, and you lose it real fast due to expenses, most will go their own way. Local politicians will play politics the way they traditionally do it.

In the end, since politicians know the psychology of Filipino voters, they will go their merry way, with Poe's funds, and will do their own way. So does Filipino voters who will vote for what they truly think is worthy of their votes---experience and direct interaction are two very important things which determine one's success in the elections.

It is just 8 months to the elections. Poe and Escudero have a loooong way to go.