Roco’s health determines his campaign program

Undoubtedly, the most significant current development in this election is presidential candidate Raul Roco’s leaving the country to get health assistance abroad. One of the ironies in his decision is the fact that he was opposing Joseph Estrada’s seeking treatment abroad for his arthritic knees.

Why couldn’t Estrada rely on local doctors for treatment? That was the question he raised.

Now, the same question can be addressed to him. Why does he need to go abroad for treatment?

In his case, it is not even clear what he is suffering from. It’s supposed to be chronic back pain. But it is common knowledge that he had undergone a prostate operation sometime ago and people speculate on the health condition of the presidential candidates. And some are saying that his prostate problem has recurred.

The best thing Roco can do under his circumstances is to listen and follow his doctor’s advice. Needless to say, health is not only the first wealth; it is also the first freedom. We hope that Roco can cope with his ailment.

According to press reports, he has left for the United States, but will be back to resume his campaign. To begin with, Roco ranks only a poor third in all the surveys. The presidential race is still between Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Fernando Poe. Roco, Panfilo Lacson and Eddie Villanueva’s contribution to this election is just on who their followers would vote for if they were not running for office.

In the case of Roco, if he cannot even campaign for health reasons, it would be better for all concerned that he just withdraws from the race and throw his support for the candidate he thinks is best qualified to run the country.

His decision on this matter may determine the course of the elections.

The real question, of course, will be whether those who intended to vote for him will continue to support him to the extent that instead of voting for him, they will vote for the candidate he will endorse.

We would welcome to see persons of the caliber of Raul Roco in public service and we sincerely hope that whoever wins this presidential election will seriously consider tapping him back to government service. We have very few people that we can call a statesman and Roco is one of them. He has the academic preparation and the experience.

The trouble with having more than two candidates for office is that the person elected may win not by getting the majority of the votes but just the plurality, meaning that it is possible that the majority did not vote for him.

In a way, this runs counter to the precept that majority rules.

Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. In short, it is imperfect, but the lesser evil." That is how we should look at all presidential candidates.