The Philippine Online Chronicles

I gave a talk to a big university in Manila last week about the role of Digital Marketing in the 2010 elections. Before I gave my talk, I wanted to get a pulse of who the students would vote for. There were more than 500 students in the auditorium so it was definitely a good sample size. If I were to call it as I heard and saw it we have Noynoy and Villar tied with Gibo Teodoro a very close third. All the others were far behind. However, I was always curious how Chiz would have fared if he decided to push through with his candidacy. I asked this question: "If it was Villar, Noynoy, Gibo, or Chiz, who would you vote for?". I'm sure I'm not deaf but I practically heard almost the entire (99%) crowd scream "Chiz". I know this isn't representative of the entire country but it was just awesome seeing an initially divided crowd all unite in pushing for someone who's actually not in the running, hahaha!

I would have voted for... Personally, Chiz would have gotten my vote if he decided to push through with his candidacy. I was actually one of the millions that got heartbroken when Chiz announced that he would no longer pursue the Presidency several days after announcing his resignation from the NPC. I can still remember the blogger event which I helped organized for him before he announced he wouldn't run for any position anymore. This guy won my vote during that event and I hoped to the last day of filing that he would reconsider and he'd run.

Author with Senator Chiz Escudero

I honestly believe that if Chiz decided to run, he would be a strong second and/or a competitive third. Chiz would have gotten the huge block of voters that got turned off by Noynoy (and his waning Cory magic) and he would also probably get the support of the Villar people who stuck to Villar because they saw no better alternative with Noynoy and even Gibo. Actually... if Chiz ran, Gibo would probably have much lower ratings since bulk of Gibo's supporters these days are students which we all know Chiz has a solid grip on.

Where's the Chiz now?

So what now, Chiz? During the blogger event, I asked him who he would endorse if he decided to bow out of the Presidential race. I remember him saying that he was inclined to throw his support behind Senator Noynoy Aquino. Chiz has no love for Senator Manny Villar. In fact I remember Chiz saying in the very first blogger event held at the NPC Club House that he would actually consider migrating if Villar won the Presidency. Pretty strong words, hahaha.

I hope that in the coming years, Chiz will continue to build on his credibility and prove to everyone that he really deserves a shot at the highest position in the country. I firmly believe in this guy's abilities and integrity. Hopefully he will be able to use the next 3-6 years to put himself in the map again so that he can capture the imagination of the voters who will be deciding 6 years from now on who the next President will be.

Rock on, Chiz. :)

Photos of Chiz Escudero by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado and author. Some Rights Reserved.

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