A nation of presidentiables

Only in the Philippines do we talk of presidentiables, a term Filipinos often use to refer to individuals who are either potential candidates for the presidency or who may look like a president. Drawing the line between the two is not easy. In almost all instances, someone who may be a potential president by virtue of his résumé should also look like one in stature, demeanour and manner of speaking. The latter is really like a pretender while a true presidentiable has the wherewithal to become one.

Everybody seems a presidential contender in our country today. Despite all the talk of the town that won’t go away about changing the present government to a parliamentary system, many have already placed their names on the table hoping people will start betting on them. Elections or no elections, there’ll never be a dearth of presidentiables.

Being a senator is pretty much an automatic qualification. There are at least six senators being mentioned as presidentiables. Joining the fray are an ex-president, a vice-president, a cabinet secretary, a city mayor, and perhaps a sitting president who does not want to fade away like an old soldier.

In the olden days, there were only two major candidates for the presidency. Of course, there were also others running, but none were really contending, since most of them were nuisance candidates. Nowadays, the presidency is a toss-up, for anyone of the mentioned presidentiables can win it all.

No presidentiable is eliminated from the race unless one backs out voluntarily. Sex scandals or allegations of graft and corruption can’t torch any of the candidates. In a Catholic country where morality is a big thing, even infidelity, or the number of wives one has, cannot tarnish a candidate’s image. It’s the nature of Philippine politics: the more, the merrier. It’s like one big market where the people are given a grocery list of choices to select their president.

Incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo continues to be silent about her future plans whether to seek re-election under a new system of government or run for Congress in her son’s seat in Pampanga. Either way she will be toast. Amending the Constitution eleven months away from the presidential elections is next to impossible. Running for Congress is fraught with moral or ethical issues. Imagine a former president of the land running for a congressional seat in order to take refuge from possible criminal or civil prosecution the moment she steps down from the presidency.

Joseph “Erap” Estrada, the former president Gloria Arroyo replaced and pardoned after being forced to resign because of the sheer scale of his wrongdoings in less than two years in office, is also bent on running again for president. Is he really serious? Estrada sounded his interest to run only if the opposition could not unite and field a single candidate. Rumours are that he already bought two brand-new helicopters and 20 vans to be used for his political campaign. Many political analysts, including incumbent elected officials, admit that Estrada has the lead among the present crop of presidential aspirants because he is still a magnet that could make people in every corner of the land flock to him.

Those scared of Estrada are flouting the argument that he is barred by the Constitution from running again, which seems absurd because he is not the sitting president. In any case, the Supreme Court may be asked to intervene whether Estrada could take a stab again for the presidency. But the right question the people should be asking is whether the presidential pardon given by Arroyo really cleansed all Estrada’s guilt that he is now all but morally up to the task of president of his country.

Then there is the president-in-waiting, Vice President Noli de Castro. Just like his boss in Malacanang, the vice president is also mum about his presidential aspiration. De Castro believes he is the putative heir apparent and worries about Estrada as a possible tough opponent.

Among the opposition, those who have announced their presidential bids include Senators Manuel Roxas II, Manuel Villar, Panfilo Lacson (for the second time around), Richard Gordon, Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero, and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay. Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, a former three-term congressman and a Harvard-educated lawyer, has also thrown his hat in the presidential circus.

The political opposition has been turned into a big tent. Everybody is a presidential contender. Being in the opposition guarantees a shot at the big pie. With Gloria Arroyo’s dismal record in office, anyone but her as a replacement seems acceptable.

Imagine Noli de Castro and Joseph Estrada sparring for the presidency. How many wives just between the two of them do they have?

Legarda-Escudero or Escudero-Legarda, which is the winning combination? That depends on who you’re talking to. But with Danding Cojuangco’s full blessings, either tandem would give their rivals a run for their money.

Senators Villar and Lacson are possible drop-outs. Villar is under probe by the Senate for his involvement in a controversial right-of way project, while Lacson continues to be hounded by allegations that he masterminded the murder of a publicist and his driver in 2000 when he was chief of the Philippine National Police.

The presidentiables from the senators’ rank are either scions of political dynasties or have close links with big business and the Philippine Roman Catholic Church. Mayor Jejomar Binay shares a track record with Joseph Estrada for surviving charges of graft and corruption. Defence Secretary Teodoro shares a political dynasty with his wife who is also a representative of the province of Tarlac in Congress.

There used to be a poignant image of a former president with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his pants folded up to his knees, and his feet deep in the mud while planting rice with farmers on a ricefield. Perhaps, we should also ask all the presidentiables to dive in the mud and do the same, or de-flea a carabao, at least, as a test of their preparedness for the presidency. With all these presidentiables, God knows there are worse possibilities.

Gloria Arroyo’s conundrum

“Stop titillating the nation,” former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos admonished President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It was like telling her to make up her mind whether she intends to push through with the Charter Change initiative in Congress as a constituent assembly or run in the 2010 elections for her son’s congressional seat in Pampanga.

But in fairness to Gloria Arroyo, whatever last ballyhoo she has in mind is for her alone to ponder. She is no under legal obligation to disclose what her plans are after her term of office expires in 2010. Suffice it to say that the present Constitution has taken care of this issue. Her term expires; she cannot run for office again. She can spend her retirement in teaching or in writing her memoirs, or through joining the lecture circuit as other former presidents are wont to do.

Yet, Gloria Arroyo keeps sending confusing signals. The merger of Kampi-Lakas-CMD administration parties means she is consolidating her political base. Congress House Resolution 1109 was rammed through by her followers to amend the Constitution by convening a constituent assembly which could postpone the 2010 presidential elections, overhaul the legislature, and transform it to a parliament, and for all intents and purposes, keep her in power beyond her present term of office. Plus, all this talk about her son giving up his congressional seat in Pampanga so she could run in next year’s elections only adds fuel to the fire than extinguish the rumours of her desire to stay in office.

Everyone knows why she wants to amend the present Constitution. But it is next to impossible now to achieve what she wants, legally and based on public acceptance. The Supreme Court, in the meantime, has refused to hear a petition to disallow the congressional initiative to convene a constituent assembly, deciding to wait and see if Congress would go ahead with its plan. It seems likely that this initiative will fizzle out and so goes Gloria Arroyo’s fervent wish to overhaul the government that will give her the chance to lead the country one more time under a parliamentary system.

But why would Gloria Arroyo even think of running for Congress? If she was scared of being sued for her wrongdoings in office after her term expires, a seat in Congress does not give her the immunity from being sued. The Constitution only gives her temporary freedom from arrest while Congress is in session, but she could still be charged criminally or sued in a civil action for damages. Being a member of Congress gives her immunity from liability for making speeches, but that’s not what the people are demanding that she be prosecuted for. The massive cheating and fraud during her re-election and the brazen graft and corruption in her government are almost akin to the crimes for which her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was charged with, especially plunder which carries the death penalty. No wonder that Gloria Arroyo is scared to death after her term is over because executive immunity ends the moment she steps down.

It seems understandable, although not an appropriate excuse, that someone would crave for more power in order to cover her sins in office. But why a person in the first place could be motivated to be dishonest and corrupt remains a beguiling concept.

The daughter and first child of a former Philippine president to hold the post as president, Gloria Arroyo seemed destined for the presidency. Well-qualified with an academic degree in economics, she has the tools to understand why the country is poor and the wherewithal to redeem the country from the mire of poverty and misery.

During an interview with Time International upon taking over the presidency in 2001, Gloria Arroyo cited her father and former President Cory Aquino as her role models: “I will follow my father’s footsteps in doing what is right, and God will take care of the rest. My father is my role model. My living role model is Cory Aquino. I am prepared.”

In The Power and the Glory: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Her Presidency by Isabelo T. Crisostomo, Arroyo was quoted thus: “I dwell on what must be done. I am a very focused person. I don’t focus on laurels, on feeling secure, feeling comfortable. Even on the day I was sworn in as president, I didn’t say, ‘Wow, I am now president,’ I said, ‘What should I do now?’”

Well, Gloria Arroyo might as well ask herself the same question, ”What should I do now?” in the face of her present conundrum.

To run or not to run, that’s not even an issue that should bother her, if she’s only willing to save her presidency or whatever is left of it. Respect the Constitution, and she must because this seems the only moral choice. The Filipino people have a large and forgiving heart. Otherwise, we could have a revolution in our hands soon.