Chiz Escudero On The Filipino Story
Written By Mikael Borres
As Governor Escudero was unable to participate in the usual Zoom interview due to his heavy schedule, Fascinating Features and the governor’s campaign team arranged an alternative set-up instead. We provided his team with the questions, and he answered them through video submission.
You know, despite all the research I’ve done on Sorsogon Governor Francis Escudero — a Georgetown alumnus who played an integral role in Philippine politics during the 2000s as a staunch critic of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration and won big in his past two runs for the Senate (but then came only as a distant 4th in the 2016 vice-presidential election as the running mate of then-fellow Senator Grace Po) — only one question dominated in my mind:
Why is his nickname ‘Chiz’?
I get how a ‘Francis’ becomes ‘Frank’ or ‘Fran’ or ‘Franky/ie’; using the root name’s first syllable is a pretty safe way to devise a nickname since it doesn’t stray from the original. But ‘Chiz’ is an out-of-left-field type of option. Perhaps it’s because it’s based on the unstressed syllable. Maybe it’s got something to do with some sort of obsession with dairy products.
The wonder for the governor’s nickname was the basis of my first question:
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BORRES: Tell us the story behind the nickname “Chiz”. Is it related to any love for cheese?
ESCUDERO: Nanggaling ang salita o pangalan na “Chiz” dahil mahilig ako noon sa Chiz Curls, pinapalaman ko pa yan sa Chippy [Chips]. Kay’ang spelling ng pangalan ko ay “C-H-I-Z”, parehong spelling ng Chiz Curls.
(The word or nickname “Chiz” came from my past love for Chiz Curls, which I paired with Chippy Chips. That’s why the spelling is “C-H-I-Z”, the same spelling as Chiz Curls.)
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Escudero at a regional painting competition organized by the Provincial Government of Sorsogon through the Provincial Tourism Culture and Arts Office (PTCAO); the competition highlighted the works of almost 100 Sorsoganon and Bicolano artists.
The tale behind the nickname is a fragment of the story of Escudero; it’s a story that comprises the governor’s efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in his home province, his romances with his now-wife and actress Heart Evangelista, and his never-ending love for his twin children Quino and Chesi. It’s a story that’s worth reading.
And on a grander scale, his book is part of a collection of perspectives that make up the grand book of the Philippines; it’s a story of jubilation, pain, and hope — and those feelings and experiences, Escudero says, build who were are today and who we will be tomorrow.
“... ang Pilipino, para sakin, ay kung ano at sino siya, kabilang ang karanasan noon ang ating pinagdaanan, kung sino at ano ngayon, and saan tayo patutungo bilang isang bansa at bilang isang lahi, nandito man tayo nakaapag sa ating sariling bansa o saan mang parte ng mundo,” Escudero remarks when asked on what does it mean to be a Filipino.
(The Filipino, for me, is what and who he/she is, including the experience we went through then, who and what we are now, and where we are going as a nation and as a race, whether we have landed here in our own country or wherever part of the world.)
The engaging storytelling that comes with the Filipino narrative is one that Escudero wishes to highlight, especially when it comes to tourism.
“We always wonder why people go to France — for example, the Louvre — and try to see the beautiful painting of Leonardo da Vinci, [the] Mona Lisa. It’s actually just a small painting, but people actually flock there simply because of the stories they have been told about the Mona Lisa.
“Leonardo da Vinci, for example, tried to study the human anatomy to be able to paint the perfect figure, the perfect face of a woman [...] kwento ito sa likod ng isang painting lamang [this story is behind just one painting].
“Marapat ang gawin din nating. Ikwento natin ang mahahalagang bagay, pinanggalingan, at marahil importansya ng kuanumang tourist spot, kuanumang tourist attraction, kuanumang lugar sa ating bansa. These stories have yet to be told.”
(We should do the same. Let's talk about the important things, origins, and perhaps the importance of any tourist spot, any tourist attraction, any place in our country. These stories have yet to be told.)
As the governor of Sorsogon, he invited those outside the province to appreciate his hometown’s history by establishing the Museo Sorsogon, which opened in March 2021. Within the museum are artifacts and properties considered to be cultural assets of Sorsogon, as well as written documents outlining the province’s past.
Moreover, in his last stint as a senator, he pushed for the creation of a Department of Culture; Escudero stated it was part of a three-step process of dividing the now-defunct Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS). The first two phases of creating separate agencies solely based on two of the three aspects of DECS were successful through the creation of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Although Escudero acknowledges that the current iteration of DECS’s culture subsection — the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), an agency under the Office of the President — attempts to fulfill the role of its predecessor, he argues that having an independent department dedicated to culture is essential in accumulating and studying the pieces of the Filipino story to determine who we are.
However, one should note that any public clamour to uphold the Filipino culture is absent; if it is present, then it must be a muted kind of support since the trajectory of Filipino culture is anything but a resemblance of ascension. Instead, Filipinos are steering their eyes away from their homeland’s culture. Although people are still consuming domestic media, they are more likely to delve deep into foreign media; this is especially true for the K-Pop and Hollywood-obsessed youth. With the Hallyu (Korean Wave) crash landing on Philippine shores and more Western narratives occupying screens due to a result of stronger and wider access to the internet, Filipino creatives are finding it difficult to highlight their work.
The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Awards Ceremony this year seemed to be a time to lament the Filipino movie industry’s struggles to bring people into cinemas due to the competition with Hollywood blockbuster releases, while at the same time trying to survive with relatively low viewership due to increased ticket prices and lockdown restrictions during the pandemic.
When it comes to the trend of Filipinos preferring more foreign media, Governor Escudero is not particularly concerned.
“Para sakin, hindi nasusukat ang pagsalita o pagpanood lamang ang pagmamahal sa sariling kultura, lahi, at kasaysayan [For me, love for one's own culture, race, and history is not measured by speaking or watching]. If the present generation likes to watch foreign films or listen to foreign music, that is part of who and what the current Filipinos are and [what they] like watching and listening to,” Escudero said.
He added: “Hindi dapat maliitin ang sinuman dahil lamang mahilig siyang manood o makinig ng mga pelikula o tugtog ng dayuhan. Ang importante at mahalaga: alam nalalaman niya at — depende sa kanyang hilig, depende sa panahon — nandon pa rin yung kanyang tingala at pagtanto na siya’y Pilipino, anuman ang depinisyon natin doon sangayon man tayo o hindi.”
(No one should be underestimated just because he/she likes to watch or listen to foreign movies or music. The important and essential thing: he knows that — depending on his passion, depending on the times — his Filipino outlook and conscience are still there, regardless of whether we agree on the definition of those things or not.)
But aside from the decreased interest in Filipino-made media that depicts the Filipino narrative, an even more worrisome threat would be the historical revision occurring today, jeopardizing the sanctity of the true narrative of the Filipino people.
But even before one delves into historical revisionism in the Philippines, a definition of the term “historical revisionism” must be agreed upon.
When Escudero was asked what constitutes something as historical revisionism, he said:
“I have never understood that concept [historical revisionism] simply because I have yet to read a book that actually tells the story of the Philippines — as in a singular book.
“Anumang pagbabago sa kasaysayan na sinasabi nila: saan ba naisulat yon dahil hindi ko pa nababasa anumang aklat na tunay na kwento ng kasaysayan ng ating bansa mula sa perspektibo mismo ng mga Pilipino.”
(Any change in history that they say: where was it written because I have never read any book that is a true story of the history of our country from the perspective of the Filipinos.)
He remarked that we cannot necessarily point to anomalies yet because there has yet to be one book that outlines the entirety of the Filipino story; although there are different stories that have been told by many authors through a countless number of books, those stories, Escudero said, have yet to be sorted into one long chronicle.
Escudero and his wife, Heart Evangelista, dancing as part of their participation in the “Largest Filipino Folk Dance” (according to Guinness World Records).
“The history of the Philippines has yet to be written,” he said. “And for me, someone should actually write an unbiased account on who and what the Filipino people [are] today, and who and where they came from.
“Layunin ko po, at nais ko sana makita ang kasaysayan na hinubog ng tahanan ng Pilipinas kaugnay na kung sino at ano tayo at kung saan ba tayo nanggaling. Alalahanin po ninyo: ang anumang balita at karahasan na saan sa araw na ito ay magiging parte sa kasaysayan bukas, magiging parte ng kasaysayan sa darating na linggo, sa darating na buwan. Sana, sa pagsulat natin ng kasaysayan, [...] babag maipagmamalaki natin ito bilang isang lahi.”
(My goal is, and I would like to see the history shaped by the destiny of the Philippines in relation to who and what we are and where we come from. Do remember: any news and experience that today will be part of history tomorrow, will be part of history in the coming week, in the coming month. Hopefully, as we write history, [...] we will be proud of it as a race.)
Part of that goal is ensuring that the truth is central to what we describe as our history, and Escudero says that the truth will only come out after the fact. When we are ready to write the story, the governor advises ensuring that we do so in the most objective way we can.
“You need the passage of time. There’s a saying in English: ‘Hindsight is always 20/20,’” Escudero said.
“Mahirap isulat ang kasaysayan habang nagaganap pa lamang ito. Importante at mahalaga ito ay maisulat ng group ng mga eksperto na walang kulay na dinadala, walang pinapanigan. Ika nga, parang pagbasa ng balita — walang dapat kinikilingan, walang kinakampihan, yong totoong salaysan na kwento lamang.”
(It is difficult to write history while it is still happening. It is important and crucial that it be written by a group of experts who are colourless and impartial. Well, it's like reading the news — no one should be biased, no one should take sides, just the real story.)
Recommended Song: Isang Lahi - Regine Velasquez
Image from Governor Chiz Escudero’s Facebook Page
