The quick-melting Chiz

Oh boy, controversy-hounded Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero is feeling the heat. Apart from the decision of the Senate under his leadership to "archive" the Articles of Impeachment against impeached Vice President Sara Duterte, his alleged multibillion-peso budget insertions in the 2025 national budget have taken center stage.

- RONALD LLAMAS

It smells like pungent European cheese left lying around, paired not with wine, but with rotten pork and floodwater. And just like cheese under blistering heat, the senator's excuses are melting fast under public scrutiny, riddled with contradictions, peppered with half-confessions and, ultimately, downright absurd.

Chiz insists that he has no business ties with Centerways Construction and Development Incorporated, one of the companies President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. named as a top flood control contractor. This came after Marcos vowed to go after corrupt contractors and politicians who padded their pockets while letting Filipinos wade through worsening floods. But the funny thing is, nobody even asked if Chiz had business ties with Centerways. Defensive much? What we do know, based on a Rappler report, is that Centerways' owner generously gave P30 million to Chiz's 2022 campaign. And since then, the company's fortunes have bloomed like water lilies in a flooded street, winning project after project.

The numbers tell a damning story: from just five flood control projects in 2021 to 43 in 2022, another 32 in 2023 and five more in 2024. Centerways' total haul? 85 projects worth P5.16 billion, mostly in Sorsogon, Chiz's political base. Pure coincidence? Sure. And I am Batman. And also Iron Man on weekends.