Ousted Senate president Francis “Chiz” Escudero is melting under the heat of the scandal that has rocked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), leaving the nation reeling in the wake of the widespread corruption uncovered.

It seems last week’s testimony of sacked former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo unwittingly put Chiz in the spotlight over his alleged involvement in the DPWH controversy.

Senator Escudero has found himself under investigation for allegedly demanding kickbacks from various projects along with an unnamed “brother-in-law” and his supposed bagman, Maynard Ngu.

These latest developments have drawn Chiz deeper into the flood control mess after it was made public that his close friend, Lawrence Lubiano, president of top flood control contractor Sorsogon Centerways Construction and Development Inc., contributed P30 million to the 2022 reelection campaign of Escudero. The matter is also under investigation by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

So, three o’clock Monday afternoon came with many glued to their television sets and mobile phones after it was announced that Senator Escudero would be taking the floor to deliver an explosive privilege speech in response to the targeted attacks on his integrity and reputation.

As an aside, none other than Vice President Sara Duterte was spotted in the gallery for what was purportedly to be an explosive privilege speech by the erstwhile Senate president.

Maybe it’s just me. Other than the repeated mention of the name of former speaker Martin Romualdez as the mastermind of everything that has gone wrong and awry in the government, even former Undersecretary Bernardo’s accusations against him (and the other senators named in the affidavit) were made to appear to be part of a still-unsubstantiated scheme hatched by Romualdez. Monday was another disappointment, not unlike his lackluster stint as Senate president.

Not an easy feat on Chiz’s part, since he clearly has the advantage of being a better public speaker than his newly declared rival Martin. But at the end of this speech, Escudero’s delivery was monotonous and the messaging, shallow.

Escudero didn’t even offer a strong rebuttal to the allegations he was making demands at the now infamous Cork Wine Bar in BGC, and the alleged payout delivery to him made through Ngu.

All I heard and all I was left with was Chiz’s whining: a lot of us did it but why is everyone just looking at me?

From Monday’s developments, it is becoming apparent that the strategy of the Senate minority bloc is to make the majority join their fight and make it about the Senate versus the House of Representatives — an otherwise good strategy if not for one problem. The Senate majority does not share the minority’s views. Meanwhile, the House, despite the leadership change, still has the same majority taking the same position it did when the former speaker was still there.

The growing friction (and tension) between another set of erstwhile and current chairpersons, this time at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (Marcoleta and Lacson), however entertaining, has the potential to escalate and backfire. But the wild card and something to watch out for in the next few weeks is the entry of a major character in the flood control “zarzuela.”

For the anti-Martin Romualdez/DDS bloc, VP Sara Duterte will now join the cast to extract her pound of flesh.