‘Pakawala’ pushing Poe closer to running?

THERE IS now little doubt Rizalito David is a “pakawala.”

David went on TV to say he was flat broke, begging the public to help him pay the docket and filing fees, etc. (at least P60,000) for his disqualification case against Sen. Grace Poe in the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET). The next day, money fell from heaven, like manna! That was really fast. Where that really came from, we can only surmise.

Lawyer Stephen Monsanto showed the other side of the equation (“Is Rizalito David really alone?” Letters, 8/11/15). He urged the public to just “put two and two together” and let common sense do the rest of the math.

In a commentary titled “Disqualification suit vs Poe” (Opinion, 8/13/15), Raul Palabrica

cited SET rules that clearly show that the case was “filed out of time,” that is, late by more than two years! It should have been filed within “ten days after the proclamation” of Poe as elected senator of the Republic on May 16, 2013. Although David said he is not a lawyer, it is unthinkable that he did not consult legal minds before filing that case. The rules are couched in plain language. There can be no other interpretation by any lawyer regardless of how dumb he may be.

David could not have been such a nincompoop. Inclined to be more charitable, we kind of think he knew that case would end up in the garbage bin. It was wild money going to waste; and we already know who has megatons of it and can afford to throw it around. The real object of that laughable exercise was to scare Poe, if she is ever minded, from challenging Vice President Jejomar Binay for the presidency. She “ain’t seen nothin’ yet”! We imagine Poe retorting: “Bring it on, dude!”

—ANNALEE LAUDER, annaleelau@gmail.com