Second of three parts
DRESSED to the nines, Daniel Magtira walked in Intramuros with the stance of any other businessman.
In his olive-green coat and polished black leather shoes, Magtira strode into the Office of the Election Officer to file his certificate of candidacy (COC). He looked sharp and promising as the future President of the Republic of the Philippines.
And then he sang a cappella.
“O, tala ng kalawakan, buhay ko’y liwanagan. Pangarap ko sa tuwina, mahal mahagkan ka [Oh, star in the sky, give light on my life. Every day I dream, my love, to kiss you].”
Magtira said his song is for actor Kris Aquino, the sister of exiting President Aquino.
Magtira told the BusinessMirror in an interview he knows Kris will help him achieve his dream of becoming an international recording artist. That is, if he wins the May 9 elections and gets sworn into the highest office in the land.
For the past 24 years, Magtira has sought different electoral positions. He ran for a seat in the Senate in 1992, 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2013. For the past five national elections, he had also tried his luck to run for president, but to no avail. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has constantly listed Magtira as a nuisance candidate.
“Kapag sumuko ako, hindi kami makakapagpakasal ni Kris. Mag-pro-propose na nga ako eh [If I give up, Kris and I can’t get married. Actually, I’m already planning to propose to her].”
Mockery
THE Omnibus Election Code (OEC) of the Comelec defines a nuisance candidate as someone who files a COC “to put the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates or by other circumstances or acts.”
Likewise, the OEC said these acts “clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed, and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate.”
Magtira, along with 123 other individuals, was declared as a nuisance candidate. Out of the 321 who were eyeing national positions, 205 were shunned by the Comelec from participating in the 2016 elections.
Prospero de Vera, a political analyst from the University of the Philippines, explained that because the qualifications for presidency are easy to file, a lot of people think that it’s okay for them to file for candidacy.
“When people are very frustrated about their lives, about the condition of the country, they don’t see dramatic changes,” de Vera said. “A lot of people vent their anger by saying that they could be the one to solve the problems of the country.”
In the Philippines, the requirements needed to run for president include being a natural-born citizen of the country. Likewise, he or she should be a registered voter, is able to read and write, at least 40 years old on election day and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election.
This makes it easier for a Filipino, compared to applying for a job.
Bond
RUNNING for presidency in the Philippines does not require a barangay clearance, police clearance or NBI clearance. It needs no academic transcript of records or diploma and no bank certification of deposits.
Before the May 2013 elections, the Comelec raised the notion that aspirants should be able to raise a P1-million “candidate bond” to discourage nuisance filers.
De Vera does not agree with the notion because it requires a financial requirement for voting.
“If you require a bond, what is that, a penalty for you to become serious?”
De Vera said the money could not measure the capacity of a candidate. “The capacity is measured by your [ability] to launch a nationwide campaign.”
He explained that the candidate should be able to have groups that will support him during his campaign. The candidate should have people who would be able to accommodate him as he goes around the country to address issues and converse with potential voters.
“The good thing about it is that the Comelec has a system that weeds out who are serious or not in public service,” Dennis C. Coronacion, University of Santo Tomas Department of Political Science chairman, told the
BusinessMirror.
“I think [one of the Comelec’s] requirements for a presidential candidate is that you have enough resources and that you have a party that has a nationwide scope.”
According to Coronacion, it may as well be an indication that the political system is not limited, that the electoral system is open to all people with different backgrounds. Nevertheless, this also indicates the weakness of the 1987 Constitution.
“I think there are more nuisance candidates now because you see a very rapid decline in the impact of parties of presidential candidates,” de Vera said.
Peculiar
NOT all nuisance candidates appeared as peculiar as Magtira.
A man in a checkered polo walked in the next day in October last year to file his candidacy. He was Florencio Orquilla and he wants to save his fellow 30 million farmers.
There was also Alejandro Ignacio. Sporting a thinning gray hair and crooked teeth, his appearance appealed to the crowd at the Comelec during the day for filing of COCs last year: that only an ordinary citizen like him can alleviate the poverty in the country.
With tears building up at the corner of his eyes, Ignacio said he is “clean” and “honest,” implying that other candidates are “dirty” and “liars.”
Meanwhile, chemical engineer and senatorial aspirant Victor Quijano expressed his promise to implement a federal system of government to equally distribute power and finances. Quijano said doing so would allow the national government to focus more on foreign policy and national security.
“When you say nuisance candidates it’s a mixture of serious na wala lang resources and ’yung mga seryoso na nangloloko lang,” Coronacion said. Their common denominator is they don’t have the resources, a political party to back them up and the connections, he added. “But some of them really want change.”
Coronacion said it would be very interesting to see one serious but penniless candidate to win a post in the May elections.
Image credits: STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS