Unfit for public office

Recent events have highlighted the issue of the fitness for public office of many of our elected public officials and candidates, with seven months to go before the May 2025 Philippines midterm elections. The seeming meltdown of Vice President Sarah Duterte in her two-hour press conference, where she threatened to excavate the corpse of Marcos Sr. and throw it into the West Philippine Sea and decapitate BBM, had some people label her as an unhinged, privileged spoiled brat, not used to being denied, with an enormous sense of entitlement.

In the testimony of former president Duterte in the Senate hearing, even as he was handled with kid gloves and given leeway, he continued to display his anti-social, arrogant, murderous neurosis, admitting the death squad and encouraging the killings without remorse. These are behaviors that are outside the moral and acceptable norms of a decent and democratic society.

Also recently the qualifications of many who filed their certificate of candidacy for the Senate for the May elections were scrutinized. The column of Josephus Jimenez in our newspaper questioning the qualifications and actions of many celebrities and aspiring candidates for the Senate went viral. Almost all of them were liabilities in the Senate and to the country. In contrast the qualifications of many qualified/competent candidates like Diokno, Tañada, Hilbay, Macalintal, Alejano, and others who are clearly more qualified also went viral.

In the coming US election in a week, the issue of fitness for public office of Trump has been on a crescendo in the last few months, as his speeches and his behavior are out of normal and out of touch with reality. He is unable to tell the truth and accept reality, has unusual aggressive behavior that even his former chief of staff and chief of the Armed Forces have called him a certified fascist. He has been convicted in civil and criminal cases and has half a dozen still pending. He behaves above/outside of the laws of a democratic society and norms of decency. He will surely lose in the popular vote nationwide but if he wins in the Electoral College votes, it is a test and indictment of the morality of the voters of the swing states that voted for him.

Unfit elected public officials and candidates get elected because there are at least 30% of voters who vote with their emotions and uncritical/unaware of the qualifications of the officials or candidates. In developing countries like the Philippines, these are their core group which when added with the paid party votes gets them elected. This is why unqualified celebrities always run under dominant political parties. In developed countries, especially with a parliamentary form of government, this is less prevalent. In the US this will not happen in the national votes, but the 30% Trumpers could distort the Electoral College votes.

Most people/voters actually can discern who are qualified for public office. They always want qualified people to run their private offices/companies or work under them. But they tolerate unqualified public officials thinking they are far and do not affect their immediate lives. These decent people from all social classes, would not want to invite some of these unfit politicians to their homes to have dinner with their children, but would vote for them. Meanwhile, their core voters would welcome visits by these unfit politicians for financial considerations and for a moment of closeness to celebrities.

Information technology and the social media have broadened the spread of news and information. This should/would make information of the qualification and fitness of candidates and elected public officials more available to the public/voters. However, recent researches and experiences have revealed that the core supporters of unqualified/unfit officials and candidates are selective in getting information about them, and shut out from news/info critical of their candidates/leaders. There is a cultish behavior observed in most of them. So, it is really the work and obligation of the 70% sensible citizens/voters to counter the election of unfit candidates and officials.

The coming elections in the US, Philippines, and in many countries are tests of these realities. The level of socio-political stability, size, and growth of their economies are proof of the necessity of electing qualified and fit public officials.