TONY VELASQUEZ (TV): Senator Chiz, how are you this evening?
GOVERNOR CHIZ ESCUDERO (CHIZ): Magandang gabi sa inyo at sa lahat ng tagasubaybay natin. Maayos naman po at maraming salamat.
TV: May I ask where you are monitoring the election results right now?
CHIZ: I am in Sorsogon now, Tony. The election here is peaceful and honest.
TV: And as far as you can tell has it been peaceful and honest?
CHIZ: Isang insidente lamang sa amin, Tony. May nahuling 11 tao na napakaraming armas na nangholdap at iyon lamang ang insidente sa aming lalawigan dito sa Sorsogon.
TV: Hindi naman mga ballot boxes ang mga hinoldap nila?
CHIZ: Hindi. Armadong lalaki at hindi pa namin alam kung may kinalaman sa pulitika pero napakaraming baril na nakuha, Tony. Tatlong mahaba at walong maiikling armas na lahat ay walang Comelec exemptions.
TV: That isolated incident, I supposed. Aside, I guess the elections, overall, have been peaceful. So far, nobody has raised any complaint about massive election fraud. Right?
CHIZ: Wala naman, Tony. Naging mapayapa ang halalan at natapos ng matiwasay at wala pa kaming reklamong natatanggap mula sa iba’t-ibang ahensiya ng pamahalaan kabilang na ang mga pulis, kabilang na ang COMELEC. At iyon ang tinitiyak kong mangyari dito sa aming lalawigan, sinuman ang manalo, sinuman ang lamang.
TV: I hope you don’t mind we talk the senatorial race at this point, yet.
MICHELLE ONG (MO): Of course, Tony.
TV: But of course, the more important thing on people’s minds this evening is the presidential and vice-presidential race. Looking at the commanding lead former Senator Bongbong Marcos has taken. Hearing of course from our data analytic Edson Guido as to which provinces had flipped from 2016 into 2022. They formerly supported Leni Robredo. And now the majority of these vote-rich provinces are going for the candidacy of Bongbong Marcos. What do you think happens in between the 6 years- from 2016 to 2022?
CHIZ: Tony, ibang laban ang 2016. Ibang laban ang 2022. Ibang posisyon iyon, ibang posisyon iyong ngayon. Hindi tamang ikumpara, para sa akin, from the surveys, ikumpara ang dalawang iyon. Ang dapat sigurong ikumpara ay iyong numero na lumalabas ngayon kumpara sa mga numero ng mga surveys. Sa dami ng bilang ng taong nagduda sa mga survey, lumalabas na ang mga survey, hindi man umeksakto ay halos sumasalamin sa nilalabas ng boto ngayon.
At hiling ko siguro, sana sa ating mga kababayan, nais kong ipaalala na sa isang demokrasya, isa lamang po ang batas na ating sinusunod. Iyong gusto ng ng nakararami, sang-ayon man tayo doon. Tingin man natin, tama o mali iyon. Ibinoto man natin o hindi. May nananalo o lamang sa isang demokrasyang dapat nating sundin iyong gusto ng nakararami. Sang-ayon man tayo dun, tingin man natin, tama ‘yon o mali ‘yon, binoto man natin o hindi, ‘di na nanalo o lamang, sa isang demokrasya, ang dapat natin sundin ‘yung boses ng nakararami. Walang sinumang isang tao o grupo ang puwedeng magsabi na sila lamang ang nakakaalam kung ano ang tama at makabubuti sa ating bansa. Sa demokrasya, bawat isa tayo, tig-i-tig-isa lamang ng boto, Tony, at ‘yon ay binigay ng ating mga kababayan mula ala sais ng umaga hanggang alas siete ng gabi at ‘yon ang binibilang natin ngayon.
TV: But of course, your father once served in the administration of Marcos Sr. and somehow, of course, your family had developed close ties with the Marcoses back then. Would you feel that of course, a new generation of Marcos would somehow build on what the former president and his father had done back in his time or would he do anything different this time around?
CHIZ: Let me just correct you, Tony, with ways of history. Although my father served under President Marcos, I also ran against Senator Marcos in the last elections for vice president so it cancels each other out at the end of the day. What I said are simply a fair reading of what the things are, how things are right now and at the end of the day, whoever will serve as the President of the country will all hope that he will serve the Filipino people fairly and equally. Ika nga, palagi kong sinasabi, sana, sinuman ang maging pangulo, pagsilbihan niya ng tapat at pantay ang bawat Pilipino, binoto man sya o hinde, sinuportahan man siya o hindi, gusto man siya o ayaw siya, sinasabi man “I love you” sa kanya ngayong kampanya o minumura man siya ngayong kampanya, sana pagsilbihan nya ng pantay at parehas ang bawat isa. ‘Yan ang susi at tulay sa tunay na panunumbalik ng pagkakaisa matapos ang pag-unfollow, pag-unfriend at pagbabangayan niyo at away nitong kampanya.
TV: Of course, a lot of people probably losing more friends now than they ever had because of this campaign, maybe even family members to boot. Mimi, you have questions for Senator Chiz?
MO: Yeah, incumbent president
CHIZ: Hi, Michelle!
MO: Hi. Hi, Senator Chiz! You are incumbent Sorsogon Governor. You placed second and fourth in the 2007 and 2013 mid-term elections, and then you ran for a local post in Sorsogon and now, you’re coming back to the Senate. What can the Filipino people expect from your comeback? I mean, the last three years, we did see critical reforms, economic reforms, for example, tax reforms, amendments to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investments Act. What can we expect from your comeback? What are the policies that you plan to push?
CHIZ: Michelle, hindi lamang ako lahat ng mahahalal bilang miyembro ng Senado, bilang miyembro ng Kongreso sinuman ang magiging presidente at bise presidente dapat tutukan ang muling pagbangon ng ating ekonomiya at pagbigay ng angkop at sapat na tulong sa agrikultura. Muling pagbangon ng ekonomiya dahil bumagsak ang ekonomiya dahil sa pandemya at mga lockdown. Agrikultura dahil pinakamahihirap na kababayan natin nasa sektor ng agrikultura. Marapat at dapat lamang bigyan ng pagtuunan ng pansin hindi lamang po ng inyong lingkod kung tunay ngang mananalo ako pero ng bawat mahahalal na opisyal mula presidente hanggang pinakamababang konsehal na binotohan natin sa eleksyong ito.
MO: Alright.
TV: Well, OK, so you did say, you did point out that you ran against former Senator Bongbong Marcos right and in doing so do you feel that now that you’re going to make a comeback in the Senate that you will be what, a very critical part of the Senate against maybe Bongbong Marcos’s administration?
CHIZ: Walang makakapagsabi nun, Tony. I did not endorse any presidential candidate in this election. Ako lang ang tumakbong senador na nakaupong gobernador at sinabi ko na simula palang ng halalan na ang prinsipyo ko nais kong bumoto ng malaya ang aking mga kababayan sa Sorsogon ng walang pressure mula kanino lalo na sa sarili nilang gobernador. I declare that open province in Sorsogon so much so that I hosted, I entertained, I make sure that our people got to know all of the candidates running either for president, vice president or even those running for the Senate as well that I hosted equally.
Naniniwala kasi ako sa proseso ng demokrasya na dapat at marapat makilala ng ating mga kababayan malaman kung anong sinasabi at plataporma nila para sila makapili. So, kaugnay ng pagiging mayorya o minorya sa akin hindi mahalaga at importante ‘yon sa puntong ito. Ang importante kasama ba, katulong ba at malalaman natin sa susunod na mga buwan matapos masumpa ang susunod na pangulo kung pareho ba kami ng kaisipan, pareho ba kami ng pinaglalaban, pareho ba kami ng prinsipyo, pareho ba kami ng layunin para sa ating bansa. Doon lamang natin marahil siguro ngayon makikita sino ba ang susuportahan, sino ba ang bulag na susuportahan, sino ba ang lalaban na bulag din at sino ba ang lalaban dahil sa rason at sa prinsipyo.
TV: Yeah. You know of course you know maybe one of the biggest surprises of this evening, if I can call it that, is that the topnotcher in the Senate race this year is Robin Padilla.
CHIZ: Some surveys show that, Tony. I have seen some surveys that shows that. Some will discount the fact that Robin or future Senator Robin landed number one or will land number one on surveys. At the end of the day, they’ve tried to point out other reason. But at the end of the day, give it to Robin kung anuman ang ginawa niya, hindi niya ginawa, anuman ang nakamit niya, hindi niya nakamit lahat ‘yon pagsama-samahin mo ‘yon ang dahilan kung bakit. Hindi isa lamang ang rason kung bakit nanalo o hindi nanalo, nag-number 1 o nag-number 2, nag-number 12 o nag-number 11. Sino man ang tumatakbo, ika nga, Tony, Michelle, “victory has many fathers, the orphan is the defeat”. I’d rather be defeated as an orphan. So maraming aangkin ng pagkapanalo pero sa dulo, bigay natin kay Robin ‘yung pagkapanalo niya, hindi lamang pagkapanalo marahil pangunguna rin niya sa mga tumatakbong senador.
TV: And how helpful will you be to future Senator Robin Padilla once he’s finally in the Senate? Would you actually give him some advice on how to be a legislator?
CHIZ: Ang pinakamagandang kwalipikasyon, ang pinakaimportanteng kwalipikasyon para sa akin, Tony, ay magandang intensyon para sa ating bansa. ‘Yung rules, ‘yung proseso, ‘yung pananalita, madaling matutunan ‘yon maski sino man kayang matutunan ‘yon. Pero ‘yung magandang intensyon para sa bansa mahirap pong ituro ‘yon sa ganito katanda nang edad ng mga tumatakbo at nanalong senador. Sino man ang magtatanong kung kaya kong makatulong, palagi akong nandoon pero hindi para sa akin na unahan sila at sabihin na mas alam ko ang ilang bagay kumpara sa sino mang nasa senado. Lahat kami, Tony, pare-pareho suweldo, lahat kami pare-pareho ang tawag ay Senador pantay-pantay lamang kami walang nakalalamang doon.
TV: Well, of course it’s not over until it’s over we’re still of course seeing partial unofficial results and once Congress begins canvassing, of course the certificates of canvass for presidential and vice-presidential race and that where we finally see the official picture of what 2022 or the elections of 2022 have turned out. For you at least, ano bang matatawag n’on, your fellow Bicolano, Leni Robredo, what future do you see for her after 2022?
CHIZ: That’s only for her to decide whatever the outcome of the elections maybe. The whole world is open for her whether she wins or loses this election but it’s not for me to answer, Tony.
TV: Sure.
CHIZ: The same as true for Sen. Marcos, the same as true for other candidates. It’s up for them to decide and who knows, Tony whether they win or lose they might end up living a better and happier life compared to those who one in this election. Wala naman makakapagsabi nun.
TV: Yes. Fair enough. Alright thank you very much to comebacking Senator Chiz Escudero. Thank you, Sir.