We abandoned the best presidents we never had

I am not a fan of Miriam Defensor Santiago. I never voted for her even once. Of course, I never will be a fan of any Marcos. I believe, however, that despite her flaws, MDS is a valid contender for the best president we never had.

I was one of those who felt betrayed when MDS became one of the senators who refused to open an envelope during former president Joseph Estrada’s impeachment trial. Discounting the fact on hindsight that it was also a procedural option that was not necessarily evil, I forgave MDS after that when she took her subsequent defeat in the following senatorial election with grace. She took the people’s punishment and the brunt of it, and we heard nothing from her.

Yes, she had Bongbong Marcos as running mate. Come to think of it, however, it was the time when her last hurrah to become our leader turned out to be an impossible dream and she had nobody to cling to, not even her legion of followers. Besides, BBM was a democratically elected senator at that time. If we could not fault the people for electing him a senator of the motherland, why should we single out MDS for picking him as running mate?

Am I apologizing on behalf of Miriam Defensor Santiago? No. A dead person does not need acceptance anymore.

I just feel sorry for our inability to see the goodness and the promise in a person who was pushed against the wall by a system we all do not have the courage to change, or so it seems.

Yes, MDS was swallowed by the rotten system. But only because we were never there when every person who could have been our best president needed us.

JONAS CABILES SOLTES
Antipolo, Tinambac
Camarines Sur