Surveys after surveys after surveys have consistently indicated that the Liberal Party bet is the heavy favorite to win the presidency. This obviously stemmed mostly from the emotional upsurge on the death of former President Cory Aquino, and later buttressed by the continuing subtle push of ABS-CBN and the Philippine Daily Inquirer which now and then flash the images of Cory and Ninoy Aquino on the network’s stations or on the pages of the PDI for no apparent reason but clearly to implant psychological instant recall.
Now here comes a column in another leading daily writing about the results of a recent Facebook poll which are so unlike those released by the Social Weather Stations, Pulse Asia, and the writeups of opinionated and biased columnists. The Facebook survey shows that former Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD team is the more popular choice of those surveyed among the presidential contenders, a reality we have long discerned. We are reminded that the SWS and Pulse Asia are in the survey business, and like any other business, they are in it for the money. Facebook on the other hand, is an Internet server which undertook this survey without sponsors and, therefore, did not get any monetary incentive for doing it. Surprisingly, Facebook, which reported that it conducted this survey starting November 9, 2009, said its survey results showed that Gibo Teodoro garnered 58.69 percent, reflecting the overwhelming choice of the silent majority of Internet users, with Noynoy Aquino and Manny Villar trailing way behind. It is expected that followers of the Liberal and Nacionalista parties who are blindly partial to their standard-bearers will scoff at this survey, but the fact remains that there is such a survey and since this survey is independent and un-sponsored, in my mind, its revelation is an eye-opener, and highly significant.
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Former senator Franklin Drilon has filed his certificate of candidacy for reelection as senator. Is Drilon qualified to run? I remember that leading election lawyer Romy Macalintal once opined that Drilon may not be qualified to run because he has not yet served the full term of a senator before he can run for another term. The Constitution under Article VI, Section 4, states that the term of office of a senator is six years and that no senator shall serve for more than two consecutive terms. If the term of office of a senator is only two successive terms of six years each, it would seem logical to assume that before Mr. Drilon can run again, he must first wait for six years from his last term to elapse. This is, of course, a legal and constitutional issue that will probably be tested before a proper court.
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Former Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando, has filed his certificate of candidacy for vice president in tandem with Sen. Richard Gordon. We remember that Fernando was very adamant in accepting a slot other than the presidency, so much so that when Lakas-Kampi-CMD chose Gilbert Teodoro as its standard-bearer, the MMDA chairman was visibly peeved and bolted Lakas while continuing to insist on his bid for the presidency. It is surprising why all of a sudden Fernando was willing to run for vice president when all the time the vice- presidential slot in the administration party was open to him.
It appears Bayani changed his mind so hastily and settled for the second slot after Dick Gordon, without a senatorial ticket and with a nascent political party whose mettle was never tested in a national election. This leads us to contemplate on the more than 90 presidential aspirants who also filed their COCs for presidency, many of whom are without political organizations, without a complete ticket, with practically nothing to support their candidacies except themselves. I hate to call them nuisance candidates but their chance of winning this election, notably Sen. Jamby Madrigal, is almost zero. Is it not a Quixotic quest, and certainly unwise?
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President Arroyo finally revealed her hand by filing her COC for representative of the 2nd District of Pampanga. Many do-gooders and hypocrites are up in arms against the President’s candidature but there is nothing in the law or in the Constitution that prohibits a President from running for a lower position, in the same manner that a governor can run for vice governor after his term, or a mayor after his term can run for vice mayor. Sen. Rodolfo Biazon is running for congressman since his term in the Senate is over, and in many instances in our political history, similar situations have occurred. In the United States, no less than two US presidents ran for senator and won, and served with distinction. It is very clear to the whole country that President Arroyo is still young and eager to serve the country some more, and she brings into the Legislative branch her vast experience in public administration as Chief Executive of the land, a qualification no congressman can match.
http://gibo.ph/updatefull.aspx?key=AK/91iuvfc/aAuYEU2CGZZW7rtgDNIQ/wM/FqRPLp8EuAfG8ssLg4w==
Source: BusinessMirror
Posted: 12/7/2009
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