Chiz poised to make 'important' announcement

MANILA, Philippines - Opposition Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero is expected to make an important announcement this morning at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.

The announcement, set at 10 a.m. in Greenhills instead of 6 p.m. at the Bahay ng Alumni at the University of the Philippines, has been postponed twice due to recent disasters that hit the country.

Escudero’s announcement would either confirm or disprove earlier predictions that the senator will formalize his intention to run for president despite talks that he and Sen. Loren Legarda may no longer end up becoming a tandem even if they are both from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

This was because Legarda, who had declared she would run for vice president, was reportedly talking with other presidential candidates to be her partner in the 2010 elections.

In an earlier statement released by a group supportive of Escudero, it said Escudero’s reported bid for the presidency would rest on a “platform of change” and would be fueled by the youth vote, millions of them first-time voters.

“Sen. Chiz Escudero is ready to lead this nation out of the misery brought about by an immoral leadership that came to power by questionable means,” said Brian Ong, president of the one-million strong Youth for Chiz Movement.

Escudero, who turned 40 last Oct. 10, postponed the scheduled announcement of his political plans to focus on helping victims of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”

“I believe this is the right time for Chiz to run for the presidency, in the same way I believe this is the time for the youth to take charge of our nation’s future,” he said.

“Chiz personifies the youth of the land. He complements his idealism with a solid grasp of the law and governance. The youth see in him their hope for a better future, and if only for this, I believe he will rise to the challenge,” Ong added.

Digoy Esguerra, one of the founders of the Youth for Chiz Movement, said they believe Escudero can change the system and quality of governance in the country.

“Chiz will run under the platform of change – in the way government responds to the needs of the people, to how government conducts its business, in fact to the way government governs. Our country has been in a freefall in the last 10 years or so, and I believe this has to stop,” Esguerra said.

Meantime, a youth group in Rosales, Pangasinan has already gathered its targeted one million signatures from the entire Region 1 in its drive to push Escudero to run for president next year.

Rosendo So, founding chairman of Abono partylist, told The STAR yesterday that the one million mark was reached four days ago and they are presenting the results to Escudero today in time for his announcement about his political plans. – Aurea Calica, Eva Visperas