We interview applicants for the presidency!

Today the Cebu Business Club (CBC), the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (CICC) and the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (MCCI) will be holding a Presidential Forum at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) dubbed as “Choices and Voices for 2010: An Encounter with the Presidentiables.” This forum is sponsored by the Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) and the Visayan Electric Company (VECO). The way I look at it, we assume the role of a manager, interviewing a bunch of job applicants, only this time they are seeking the Presidency.

The invited Presidentiables who said that they would be at the CICC this afternoon are Sen. Manny Villar, Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., Sen. Richard Gordon, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada and Bro. Eddie Villanueva. I’m glad that Noynoy Aquino would be coming to Cebu today for sorties in Cebu Province and will be at the CICC. We have been quite disappointed that Noynoy, the survey front runner has been visibly missing in that ANC Presidential Policy Forum held at the AIM, where only Gibo, Sen. Villar and Sen. Gordon showed up.

I will be in that forum; I wouldn’t miss it for the world. In fact, some of my friends already asked me what questions I would throw at the Presidentiables. But I asked them what questions they would like for me to ask. So here’s just a few of those requests. For Sen. Manny Villar, they would like to ask: Why does he refuse to be questioned by the Senate ethics committee about the C-5 issue?

For former Pres. Erap, our friends would like to ask him a question closer to home: What has he done for Cebu during the Erap Presidency? I guess they haven’t forgotten that infamous “Pag Puasa Mo” statement coming from former Sen. John “Sonny” Osmeña who was Erap’s closest political friend in Cebu at the height of his power.

For Noynoy, they would like to know that if he is campaigning on the basis of the integrity and popularity of his parents, Ninoy and Cory Aquino to show that he has the bloodline of integrity and probity. We would also like him to tell us the truth about his sister Kris Aquino. If he is truly an honest person, then he should tell us the inside story on Kris as there seems to be a wide chasm between her mother’s morality and her own.

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 I never doubted for a moment that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would disqualify former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada and Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) who are both supposedly “prohibited” by the term limits set by the Cory Constitution. Now it can be told (at least from the point of view of the Comelec) that the six-year term limit for the President is only for an incumbent President. So that gives Erap another chance to grab the reins of government in Malacañang.

This brings us to the question about the case of Pres. Arroyo, who is a sitting or incumbent President. Well, apparently, the Comelec also did not disqualify Pres. Arroyo as she is not running for President, but a lower elective position. Of course, we can expect those who filed these disqualification cases to bring this matter all the way to the Supreme Court. Abangan!

What this two cases teaches us is that our 1987 Constitution is so badly and hastily crafted, the framers of the Constitution never expected a scenario like what is happening today. This includes the power vacuum that would ensue if there is a failure of elections and the country would end up without a legitimate leader! This is why Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said, “This Constitution is very dangerous!” As the late Manong Max Soliven would say about the Cory Constitution, “It was the result of a Martial Law hangover. Sanamagan!”

I’d like to pose this question to our readers: How many more Constitutional infirmities do we need to experience before the Filipino people wakes up to realize that the Cory Constitution is hopelessly flawed? As Lakas-Kampi Presidential bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. said about this constitution during my tv interview with him: “The Cory Constitution should have been a transitory constitution, then it should have been amended or a new one put in place in order to put us on the right path to development.”

When he learned that the Comelec has allowed former Pres. Erap to run again for President, he was so overjoyed he said, “I want to be king again myself, recover my throne that was stolen from me.” Did Erap really say that? He must have been in some other world. Someone ought to wake him to the reality that he is running a Presidential campaign, not asking the Filipino people to crown him king, as we have no royalty in this country! It may be a figure of speech, but it reveals a lot about the mind of Erap.