Outstanding candidates who cannot win anyway
It is tragic that in this country, elections are usually decided on the basis of popularity, rather than on competence and character. It is really sad that the sovereign decision-makers, the Filipino voters, are largely people who do not use their brains but their reckless impulses, biased feelings and distorted emotions. Therefore, we all get the kind of government that we rightly or wrongly deserve, a government run by second-rate actors, boxers, and basketball players. In this country, the voters do not insist on high qualifications. Even Lucifer can run for president.
And then, we have the nerve to complain and blame these officials for not living up to our high expectations. We have the temerity to expect excellence from mediocre officials that we blindly put in high offices. On the presidency next year, the best candidate, to our mind, next to Mayor Rudy Duterte is Senator Miriam defensor-Santiago. It is a pity, however, that there seems to be no way that she can win over Senator Grace Poe, a candidate who may be less qualified than her. There is no way too that Senator Miriam can get more votes than Vice President Binay. Not even against her own kasimanwa, Secretary Mar Roxas.
On the vice-presidency, the best qualified, we dare say, is Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, a brilliant lawyer, with a lot of brains, with impeccable credentials and unimpeachable integrity. But the gentleman from the tiny city of Taguig is bound to be beaten by Escudero. Cayetano has no war chest as big as that of Senator Bongbong. He has no Magdalo organization like Senators Gringo and Trillanes. He has no APO frat and Boys Scouts like Vice President Binay.
For senator, the best bets may be Raffy Alunan, Lorna Kapunan, Toots Ople, and Allan Montano. Raffy Alunan was a brilliant cabinet member during the FVR years. Lorna Kapunan is a topnotch corporate and litigation lawyer who, for a long time, was the former boss of both Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza and Senator Leila de Lima in the famous law firm ROBUKAP (Roco Bunag and Kapunan). I know whereof I write. I was in San Miguel Corporation for a long time and Attys Kapunan, Jardeleza, and de Lima were our external counsels.
Toots Ople is not only a worthy daughter of the great Blas F. Ople. She is the champion of the OFWs, whose advocacy for migrant workers have been well recognized by many global award-giving agencies . Allan Montano is a decent trade union leader, passionate lawyer and former president of the Federation of Free Workers. Alunan, Kapunan, Ople, and Montano are bound to lose to Manny Pacquiao and Mark Lapid. Even Edu Manzano and Alma Moreno may get more votes than these highly qualified senatorial bets.
At the end of the day, if we do not put our brains and hearts in a more intelligent, wiser and more discerning process of choosing our leaders, we shall end up being led by morons, rascals, and nincompoops. Then we shall have lost our moral right to complain. In a nation where voters continue to be reckless in the exercise of the right of suffrage, people get the government they deserve. This then is the greatest tragedy that we have to suffer today, to be led by mediocres whose only purpose is to perpetuate themselves in office. And we shall continue to suffer in poverty and neglect. The unkindest cut of all is that we deserve our misery.
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