Process of elimination

The more we write and talk about this flip-flopping presidential candidate who filed his certificate of candidacy beyond the deadline, the more he likes it. This is precisely his warped tactic of attracting attention to promote his candidacy. It is better to ignore him especially his latest antic of cursing the Pope which is now the subject of varying interpretations and explanations. No useful purpose can be achieved in finding out which of the versions on this sad spectacle is true or not. It will just contribute further to the achievement of his purpose in gaining more media mileage and making him the “talk of the town.”

His name is not even worth mentioning here because it will be promoting “name recall” which is one of the means employed by candidates to get more votes. More timely and important to point out now is his character and real trait readily revealing that never before in our presidential elections have we encountered such a dangerous and scheming aspirant than in this coming election. He is indeed the only presidential candidate who has no qualms at all in admitting and even bragging that he has ordered the killing of persons suspected of serious transgressions of the law. He is the only presidential candidate so far who has openly boasted that he has two more wives and has affairs with other women. And with his recent outburst casting aspersions at the Pope, he has displayed the worst kind of rudeness and vulgarity absolutely repugnant to the most basic trait of a good president who should lead by example.

Indeed he is the most duplicitous candidate for president we ever had, more hypocritical than the current President we supposedly elected in 2010. For, even as he openly brags that he is against corruption and will exert his utmost to fight and eliminate it, he himself has shown through the personal details of his life that he is more corrupt. In fact he has displayed the darker side of corruption. As CBCP president Archbishop Soc Villegas pointed out, “Corruption, like a monster, is a devil with many faces. Killing people is corruption. Adultery is corruption. It makes married love cheap and uses people for pleasure. Adultery corrupts the family; it destroys children and victimizes the weak.” Villegas also said that vulgarity is corruption and “when we find vulgarity funny, we have really become beastly and barbaric as a people.”

Of course, others will dismiss Archbishop Villegas’ reaction as the expected response of the Church for vilifying its head. But Pope Francis is also one of the most revered and admired leaders not only by the Catholics but by people of different sects and religion all over the world. So it is really a “great shame” for a political candidate in this country, who even considers himself a Catholic, to curse the Pope. Besides, there is really some truth to Archbishop Villegas’ observation that vulgarity is one of the many faces of corruption.

In fact even this candidate himself and his supporters have tacitly recognized this face of corruption. They tried to explain that his statement has been taken out of context and that he was not cursing the Pope. Unfortunately however, in making such apology he also attacked the Church by blaming some Jesuit priests for committing child abuse on him when he was a student at Ateneo de Davao. Obviously, he wants to remain in the limelight by keeping this controversy in the news for as long as he can.

In the final analysis however, the ongoing sad scene has also given us some important lessons. First of all, we should already stop giving too much attention and violently reacting to his antics. This is really what he wants the people to do, so that they will continue to focus their attention on him for as long as he can. And secondly, even if there is still some doubt on whether he could stand as substitute candidate, we should already resolve now to elect as President anybody but this man whose name sounds like and rhymes with the word “dirty.”

To be sure, with the big number of candidates for president in the coming elections, our task of choosing a candidate as our next leader has become a process of elimination. And it seems that this process is becoming simpler especially with the recent disqualification by the Comelec of another candidate – Grace Poe Llamanzares. This candidate who prefers to be known as Grace Poe to ride on the popularity of his deceased adoptive father Fernando Poe Jr.  has been disqualified because she was not able to prove that she is a natural born citizen and that she is a resident of this country for the last 10 years.

Of course the Comelec decision is not yet final. It is still reviewable en banc. And even this en banc decision is still subject to review by the Supreme Court which is the final arbiter of all constitutional issues. But it seems clear from the facts of the case and the applicable law that Poe has wittingly or unwittingly committed some misrepresentations in the certificate of candidacy she filed before the Comelec. She presumed that she is a natural born citizen despite the fact that her parents are unknown, merely because she was found in the Philippines. She based her presumption on some principles of international law which run counter to our own Constitution that adheres to the principle of jus sanguinis (citizenship by blood) instead of jus soli (citizenship by place of birth). Then based on her admission as reflected in her COC when she ran for the Senate, her residency falls short of the required 10-year period.

Of course her misrepresentations here may have been done in good faith. But such fact may only exculpate her from criminal liability and will never constitute compliance with the required qualifications for the presidency. “Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.”

So best alternative for Poe right now is to make a graceful exit and prove first that she was born of Filipino parents. By doing so she will be able to also comply with the residency requirement so that by the next presidential election she will already be qualified.

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