THERE are some things i don?t understand in the recent Comelec resolution approving the candidacy of some aspirants to public positions and disqualifying others similarly placed. If J.C. de los Reyes qualified as a presidential candidate, why not Nick Perlas? If Lt. (s.g.) Antonio Trillanes won as senator while confined in jail why disqualify Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim? If Col. Ariel Querubin qualified why not Lim when both are in jail?
I understand the quandary that the Comelec is in. There are so many candidates that we may have a ballot that is a meter long because so many names have to be printed on it. Unlike the ballot in earlier elections where the voter wrote down the names of his candidates, the new automation ballot will have all the names of the qualified candidates printed on it. The voter will merely shade the blank squares beside the names of his choices. It is these shaded squares that the voting machine will read and count.
Too many names may result in a very big and unwieldy ballot that can take an unusually long time for a voter to read, thus delaying the voting process. Alternatively, they may force the Comelec and the printer to make the letters too small to accommodate all the names and, in the process, make the ballot difficult to read by those with poor eyesight.
So the Comelec was forced to be more strict in passing judgment on candidates. However, that does not justify denying citizens the opportunity to run for public positions.
To be sure, there are people who want to become candidates for a variety of reasons. All of them say they want to ?serve and help the people.? Most of the time they just want to help themselves to the public treasury. Still others do it for the publicity (or notoriety) and as an excuse to ask for donations for their campaign. Some candidates lose the family fortune for campaign expenses, but it is no secret that some actually collect more than they spend. Win or lose the election, they win. (Example: Rep. Mikey Arroyo, the President?s son, said publicly that he used leftover campaign funds to buy his house in the United States.) And many more are actually candidates for mental asylums.
So yes, the Comelec is justified in weeding out nuisance candidates or those it thinks do not have a ghost of a chance of winning. The trouble is choosing whom to qualify or disqualify. Comelec officials are only human and can be wrong. In fact, the Comelec has in the past qualified some who should be in the looney bin. Unfortunately, right or wrong, what the Comelec and the Supreme Court say goes.
To sum up, I think the Comelec should qualify Danny Lim. He would be a good addition to the Senate, unlike some show-biz personalities who did nothing during their entire terms.
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Judges and justices who inhibit themselves from cases because of fear for their lives should be removed from the bench. They took an oath to serve the public and inhibiting themselves from cases out of cowardice?not because of conflict of interest?is a betrayal of this oath. They are paid handsomely with taxpayers? money to pass judgment on suspected criminals, even after retirement, and to refuse to do their jobs is to cheat the public. They should be ashamed to be in the judiciary.
In the first place, they were the ones who applied for the position, and probably pulled some strings to be appointed. So they should take whatever goes with the job: threats, risks, etc. If they can?t take the heat, they should get out of the kitchen.
The inhibition by Judge Luisito Cortez of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court from trying the murder charges against members of the Ampatuan clan because of fear reminds me of the Court of Appeals justices who, of all people, inhibited themselves from reviewing a murder case against an acting mayor of a Cagayan town. People involved in the case?prosecutors, witnesses?all met untimely deaths in the hands of assassins, so all the honorable justices of the appellate court inhibited themselves one after another. Chief Justice Reynato Puno did nothing to remove them from the bench (nakakahiya!) nor even chastise them. Like Cortez, they do not deserve the public money that is being paid them. If they have any decency left, they should resign.
Justices, judges and prosecutors should be braver than journalists, several hundred of whom have already been murdered for doing their jobs, the most recent of whom were the 31 massacred in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. Justices and judges can have police security 24 hours a day. Not journalists. Still the latter continue, without fear and with the threat of death or libel suits hanging over them, to tell the truth about corrupt public officials.
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I don?t agree with the ban on giving gifts to beggars this Christmas season. Yes, there is a law against giving alms to beggars because begging is going out of control (they turn off people, especially tourists), but giving them gifts during the Christmas Season, as long as it is voluntary, should be an exception. God knows these poor need the help and generosity of their more fortunate brothers.
I also do not agree with prohibiting airport personnel from greeting passengers ?Merry Christmas.? It could be their way of soliciting tips, the government says. True, but there are other ways of soliciting gifts other than saying ?Merry Christmas.? Rubbing the fingers of one hand together is one.
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KAPIHAN NOTES: There will be no Kapihan sa Manila Hotel on Dec. 21 and 28, because of the Christmas and New Year holidays. The next one will be on Jan. 5. Happy Holidays.
