Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:34:00 11/02/2009
Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Chiz Escudero
Sen. Francis Escudero turned the political landscape upside down last week when he announced that he was resigning from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) at Club Filipino where he was expected to formally launch his candidacy for president in the May 2010 elections.Instead, he launched himself on the path of political self-destruction as he cut himself off from a vehicle for an electoral campaign, declaring he didn’t need a party to win an election. This was a ringing political apostasy.
In his press conference, Escudero turned out to be like a rampaging bull let loose in a china shop, goring every object in sight.
He not only scorned the NPC, the party that sheltered his political career for 11 years, he also defied established conventions governing the indispensability of political parties as the vehicle to scale the heights of political power, just like the siege machine was indispensable in storming fortresses in medieval times.
Put differently, Escudero, who turned 40 on Oct. 10 making him eligible to run for president, defied the rules of gravity of politics and, at the same time, unmasked a political immaturity and naivete that could only have embarrassed his admirers among the youth who look up to him as the great white hope of the newly enfranchised generation because of his display of political exuberance.
In resigning from the NPC in melodramatic fashion, Escudero said: “I am leaving the party because I believe that I can fulfill the role that I am bound to play in connection with the coming election … not as a member of any party or a companion of any person. This should be the first test of leadership of any putative candidate—for him to decide on his own and take full responsibility for the decision whether or not to run for president.”
Unorthodox philosophy
Declaring his independence not only from the NPC but also from any other party, Escudero unveiled his unorthodox political philosophy in regard to the functions of political parties.
In his concept of the ideal presidential candidate, he said: “All his party mates must be all the Filipinos. Child or adult, yellow or red of color, whether a supporter or not, should be treated equally and the same. He cannot only see and hear what his party mates say, while he sees only from afar those who do not belong to his party, those who do not belong to his group.”
He went on to say that “whoever is running, will run, or will become president of the nation must not be chained hand and foot to the party … For me, one party cannot dictate the actions of whoever is running for office. If this is the case, how can he hold accountable the corrupt in government if they belong to his own party?”
This statement, of course, was resented by businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco and the NPC cadres. There are claims that Escudero bolted the party because the financial support that Cojuangco had committed did not live up to his expectations.
Far removed from reality
Escudero’s concept of political parties is far removed from political reality. It slams the door on the option of his joining or being drafted by any other party.
His ideas of independence of party members from the party and the importance of the parties in winning political power are out of this world and fly in the face of evidence on the role of parties in scaling the heights of political power in any political system—whether democratic or authoritarian.
No political leader in modern times has ever won power without the vehicle provided by the political party—and the list of those transported to power by parties is long.
Adolf Hitler used the Nazi Party as the vehicle to power; Josef Stalin, the Communist Party; Benito Mussolini, the Fascist Party; General Francisco Franco, the Falangist Party; and Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the Gaullist Party.
Philippine party system
Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña used the Nacionalista Party, which dominated the transitional Philippine democracy to independence
Parties cannot be dispensed with under any political system. Since 1946, Filipino presidents were produced by the party system.
The parties articulate the platforms and policies of politicians seeking public office and aggregate the demands of sectors of society participating in policy-making decisions in democratic institutions mediating these demands.
So far, we have not heard from Escudero, despite his high leadership aspirations, no less than the presidency of the Republic, any philosophy and social policy of substance, worth serious examination, except his exuberant musings about political parties.
Escudero is aspiring for the presidency without any iota of evidence that he has a mass following in poll surveys on which to base a campaign. Surveys have shown him running behind in popularity ratings.
Apt metaphor
Escudero’s conception of running for the presidency without a party and trusting on the inchoate public to embrace and propel his dreams to the skies calls to mind the myth of Icarus.
The myth is the apt metaphor of Escudero’s exuberant construct and reinvention of political reality.
In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedelus, a skilled craftsman who was imprisoned with his son by King Minos in a tower on Crete. Daedelus plotted to escape with his son.
He fabricated wings made of feathers glued by wax. When the wings were done, he fitted himself and his son with the wings, and soared to the skies.
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091102-233516/Escudero-without-a-political-party-and-the-myth-of-Icarus
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