At the Manila Rotary meeting last Thursday with vice presidential candidate Sen. Chiz Escudero as guest of honor and speaker, members of the audience were very impressed at the way he answered hard-hitting questions in a very straightforward manner. Chiz came out as a very charismatic, articulate and intelligent young man whose facility with the English language became very apparent, although he jokingly told the audience that he hoped he would not “nosebleed.”
As fellow Rotarian Tony Lopez pointed out, Chiz is more likeable when he speaks in English because he comes out less glib. For some reason, some people find his Tagalog too deep and thus very hard to comprehend.
It was a short speech because as the Senator said, he was reserving the rest of the time for the “question and answer” portion and indeed, the Q&A was very lively, trying to probe his mind on a lot of issues that have to do with business, the economy and government policy even on such matters as un-calendared holidays that can put a strain on businessmen’s resources since they have to pay double for the wages.
Chiz believes that real empowerment for the people can only come through education, and that there has to be a bigger allocation for farm-to-market roads in the countryside like in the Cordilleras for instance, since government can’t keep on building roads in Metro Manila alone.
Asked about comments that liken him to a Rasputin who “manipulates and dictates” on Sen. Grace Poe, he replied: Granted for one second that those allegations were true, has Grace Poe said or done anything that can be perceived as inimical to the interest of the people?
“Distrust is the product of fear based on the unknown. At the end of the day, I will be judged by what I said or did not say, and by what I did or did not do,” the senator said, which elicited appreciative applause from the audience. Judging from reactions, it was clear to those who heard Chiz that the young man has got what it takes to be a leader. Photos by Ramon Joseph J. Ruiz