The 2nd Impeachment

Sen. Chiz Escudero said he wants to run for president at a young age because he’s afraid that if he does so when he is older, he might end up acting like a trapo (traditional politician). But since his early days as a politician, Escudero has already been acting like one:

1. He didn’t support the impeachment of then-Comelec Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco despite the overwhelming evidence against her. Chiz cannot deny the fact that Tancangco was the architect of the Mega Pacific deal that involved billions of pesos. The deal was later junked by the Supreme Court. She was also involved in the Voters Registration and Identification System (VRIS) project. It reeked with irregularity when she awarded it to Photokina for P6.56 billion despite the Comelec’s budget of only P1.2 billion.

Actually, the impeachment reached the plenary but Escudero and his Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) party had the numbers to thwart the impeachment.

2. Escudero didn’t support the impeachment of former Ombudsman Aniano Desierto. Lawyer Ernesto Francisco and civil society groups filed an impeachment case against Desierto for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust. Despite the overwhelming evidence similar to the one filed against current Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, then Representative Escudero didn’t have any second thoughts in helping the majority junk the impeachment complaint.

3. Escudero didn’t support the impeachment complaint against then-President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, again despite the overwhelming evidence. Back then, Escudero saw nothing impeachable about Erap, in the same manner that today Rep. Mikey Arroyo sees nothing impeachable about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

4. But the most repulsive act Escudero did was when he, together with his “Brat boys” in the NPC, initiated the impeachment of then-Chief Justice Hilario Davide. Of course, they didn’t succeed because of the furor à la People Power whipped up by their unreasonable and childish initiative.

I wonder why these things have not been raised in candidates’ forums. The electorate, especially the youth, should study and look at the past actions of people running for high office or they could be duped by glib talk.

—ELENA FRANCISCO,
elefrancisco@gmail.com