Elections proceeding in a very cordial manner

Comedian Dolphy, who is campaigning for movie colleague Fernando Poe Jr., publicly apologized to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the jokes he made about her in a political rally in Cebu City last Saturday. President Arroyo graciously accepted his apology dismissing it has a "tactical issue" and reiterated her challenge to the opposition to present its program of government. That is what the election should be about.

The candidates should have transparency. One of the issues against Fernando Poe Jr. is that he is just a high school dropout. Now comes the disturbing report that vice presidential candidate Senator Noli de Castro is in a similar boat. According to reports, he is only a high school graduate.

He claims to be a commerce graduate, but his diploma allegedly is a fake. Now this is an issue that can be easily clarified. All Noli de Castro has to do is to state just when and where he graduated from college. The time to do this is now. If it comes close to actual election time, even the votes for running mate, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, may be affected.

There are also reports that serious charges have been filed against him with the Ombudsman. The charges allege that he used his radio-TV program to extort millions from those subjected to his exposés. The report also said that a former movie actor and businessman has claimed that he was imprisoned for seven years because Noli de Castro accused him of kidnapping his own wife. Was it the person who made the accusation or the courts that were responsible for the man’s imprisonment? The thing is that these accusations should be clarified soonest so they will not affect the May 10 elections.

Elections are the democratic way of settling things by ballots instead of bullets. The important thing is to settle disputes amicably. Noli de Castro has, undoubtedly, a very good public image. The best proof is that when he ran for the Senate, he topped the senatorial slate. If there were all those accusations against him, why didn’t they come out then? Why only now when he is running for the second highest post in the land? One reason, of course, is that he is definitely a very strong contender for the post. Those who oppose him will have to employ drastic measures to change his image. Fernando Poe Jr. owes his image to the movie world and Noli de Castro, to his listeners in Magandang Gabi Bayan. It is obvious that his detractors are going after his image. They are not concerned about him at all as a member of the Senate. Such is politics today. On one side, you have movie actor, FPJ; on the other, TV commentator Noli de Castro. The medium is the message.

To date, the voters have no inkling on what the elections are all about. As far as they are concerned, it all boils down to a choice of personalities. There is still time for the parties and the candidates to come out with their platform of government. It is the only way to give true meaning to the coming elections.