THIS year’s presidential election bears close watch as it will determine where the country will go until 2022. The winner in the forthcoming political exercise will set the nation’s agenda on June 30, when he/she takes the oath of office and lays down the key thrusts, policies and programs of the new administration. Will the next leader inspire new hope for change and reform, or will he/ she eventually fail to meet the high expectations of our people, and prove to be a deep disappointment?
It is important, therefore, to make the right choice in the May 9 election, where we also get the opportunity to choose the next vice president, as well as 12 senators, close to 300 members of Congress and thousands of local officials at the provincial, city and municipal levels.
No wonder, then, that the top political story last year, easily eclipsing the other major political developments, such as the Mamasapano massacre and the territorial dispute with China, among others, was who would slug it out and emerge on top in the presidential contest in May.
From Day One as Vice President, Jejomar Binay made no secret of his plan to run for the highest elective post. He was banking on his long tenure as mayor of Makati City to make a determined bid to capture the presidency this year. Which worked for him, as he was the consistent front-runner in popularity surveys among possible presidential bets until early this year. That is, until his political opponents in the Senate initiated an extended investigation into alleged corruption during his term as mayor that gradually whittled down his ratings to slip to No. 2. As of end- December, however, he had regained the top position in at least one major survey.
Former Interior Secretary and now Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II had also been widely believed to be interested in pursuing the presidency since the time he gave way to Noynoy Aquino in 2010. While he is considered a technocrat, his performance at the helm of the Department of Transportation and Communications and later of the Department of the Interior and Local Government is seen as below par. Besides, he is perceived as trying too hard to identify with the masa, even as he is a scion of one of the richest families in the country. His popularity ratings, consequently, had always been low compared to the front-runners, despite having gotten the endorsement of President Aquino.
Sen. Grace Poe had been considered a rising political star since she topped the senatorial elections in 2013 with 20 million votes. But since she declared her presidential bid last October, she has been hounded by allegations that she is not a natural-born citizen and that she lacks the 10-year residency requirement. Last November the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) denied the petition for her disqualification as senator. But a month later, she was disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) 2nd Division from running as president after failing to reach the 10-year residency requirement. Later, her certificate of candidacy (COC) was canceled by the Comelec 1st Division as it ruled that she did not meet the same 10-year residency requirement of the Constitution.The Comelec en banc sustained the ruling of the two divisions, but she has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court that is still pending.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte declared his candidacy only last December, as a substitute candidate of the PDP-Laban party. He did so but only after much hemming and hawing. He spoke before various gatherings to speak his mind out about what the country needs to do to see real change. But the deadline for the filing of COC before the Comelec came and went and he was nowhere to be seen. He counts on many followers who say that his successful campaign against criminality in the city is what this country needs at this time. He has been hounded by allegations that he has sanctioned or even taken part in extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals in Davao City. But his tough image could also be his downfall, as human-rights advocates staunchly oppose what they believe to be his involvement in summary executions.
The camp of the fifth presidential candidate, Sen. Miriam Defensor- Santiago, claims that she has been topping surveys among netizens. She took second place in the 1992 presidential elections where, she said, she was cheated of victory by the winner, Fidel V. Ramos. She says she has completely recovered from a prolonged bout with lung cancer, which led to her taking an extended leave from her duties as a senator. Even as she has officially filed her candidacy, however, she does not appear to be actively building a strong campaign machinery. Thus, she is the cellar dweller among the presidential candidates.
As things now stand, Binay and Poe are tied in the latest poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations from December 12 to 14. Binay and Poe were each chosen by 26 percent of 1,200 respondents. Administration candidate Roxas was chosen by 22 percent and Duterte by 20 percent, with Santiago the cellar dweller with 4 percent.
A Pulse Asia survey conducted a week earlier, from December 4 to 11, showed Binay the runaway winner, with 33 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him; followed by Duterte (23 percent); Poe (21 percent); Roxas (17 percent) and Santiago (4 percent).
It would be wrong to assume that Filipino voters are limiting their choices to the five candidates. At least one small political party that had fielded candidates for president, vice president and senators in two past elections is reported to have adopted a boycott position. Some netizens are also supporting this “Nota,” or “none of the above” stance, believing that no one among the current crop of presidential candidates can be expected to bring about genuine social change or transformation within the next six years, and therefore deserving of the people’s vote.
It’s a protest vote, if we may call it as such, and it’s a valid one, even if it means they forego their right of suffrage under a democratic setup.
Be that as it may, we believe that the electorate should choose the next leader on the basis of the following criteria: (1) character/ personality: Is he/she a strong and decisive leader?; (2) integrity: Has he/she been involved in graft and corruption issues?; (3) education/ academic preparation: Does he/she have the intellectual faculties to handle the rigorous demands of the job?; (4) work experience: Does he/ she have enough experience at either the local or national level, or both, to be familiar with the situation on the ground and the people’s pulse?; and (5) platform: Does he/she have a comprehensive program of governance that addresses the country’s problems and needs?
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com
