Chiz to Noy: No need to attend my wedding

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Escudero asked President Aquino to skip his wedding with actress Heart Evangelista on Feb. 15 as he does not want Aquino to be criticized again like when he attended the wedding of celebrities Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera last month.

The senator himself confirmed this in an interview with dwIZ yesterday.

Escudero said he asked Aquino, his friend, to skip his wedding at the exclusive Balesin Island in Quezon.

“I talked to the President and I told him that he should just attend the reception in Manila so that it would be more convenient and in order to avoid him being criticized again,” Escudero said in Filipino.

The senator explained that he did not want Aquino to go through the trouble of going all the way to the Quezon island with his security team and then travel back again within a short period of time.

“I was the one who asked that from him because everything would be the same anyway except for the ceremony,” Escudero added.

With the reception being held along Macapagal Boulevard, Escudero said that it would be near Malacañang and the President could go on with his schedule for the day and drop by later on.

Aquino’s attendance at the “royal wedding” of Dantes and Rivera was the subject of criticism on social media because it took place while Typhoon Seniang was battering the Visayas region.

Malacañang had to defend the President’s decision to attend the wedding, saying that he was constantly monitoring the situation even though he was “witness of honor” at the event.

There’s still enough time for Noy

Escudero also said the President has enough time to complete his programs and address whatever challenges that have emerged with little more than a year left of his administration.

“For me, one year is a very long time. And to all those who are saying that the President is a lame duck, this has never been true and the President is able to push forward his programs with the help of his allies in Congress and the local government units,” Escudero added.

Among the key programs that the administration has initiated and intends to complete is the attainment of lasting peace in the Mindanao region with the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

The BBL would pave the way for the creation of a new autonomous political entity that would replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.