If Poe won, what does that say of us?

In the seemingly manic headlong drive to force President Arroyo from power by whatever means, there are those who trumped up the cheating charges, those who are morally convinced she cheated, and those who have a wide variety of opportunities to pursue alongside with.

So focused has everyone become on the issue of presidential cheating in the last election that no one seems to care enough about what, if cheating is in fact proven, it can say about all of us Filipinos.

Listen, if President Arroyo cheated in the last election, it means she could not have won without the cheating. Therefore, it means further that her closest rival, the actor Fernando Poe (who has since died, God have mercy on his soul), could have been the winner.

Now, if Poe would have been the winner if President Arroyo had not cheated, that means the Filipinos preferred an actor who never had any political experience and who never headed anything but his own film production outfit over a US-educated former senator and vice president.

And that does not sound very flattering to Filipinos. In fact, we would all look like idiots to the rest of the world for not being able to tell the difference between a car and a walking stick.

The supporters of Poe tried to build him up solely on the basis of his supposed sincerity (even if Poe himself slammed that virtue to the ground when he admitted having sired a child out of an adulterous relationship).

If Poe won had President Arroyo not cheated, then the Filipinos who voted for him must have naively swallowed the sincerity spiel spun by his political backers, even if these very same backers, who are themselves great womanizers, privately smirk at the tall tale they tell.

Well, President Arroyo may not be the most likeable woman in the world. And definitely she has her skeletons in her closet, just as those who are attacking her have. But one would have thought that level-headedness would prevail in a choice between capability and a sham.

But if Poe won had President Arroyo not cheated, then apparently level-headedness did not prevail. And if level-headedness did not prevail, then idiocy must have. So how come Filipinos still think so highly of themselves?

One of the great things about perspectives gained from hindsight is that it allows a comparative assessment of things that could have been had situations turned out differently than how they actually did.

For one thing, it allows us to assume things, such as what could have happened if Poe had in fact become president. One very recent development had been the State of the Nation Address, which the actor would have had to deliver on the assumption President Arroyo did not win.

Imagine Poe there before the joint session of Congress, covered live on nationwide tv, selected footages of which were beamed worldwide, reading in all sincerity a speech written for him yet not understanding half of what he was saying.

A few days ago, world dignitaries, including many heads of state, attended the funeral of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Such an event provided an opportunity for world leaders to hobnob with one another.

Prince Charles was there for Great Britain. Had Poe won if President Arroyo did not cheat, he would have been there for the Philippines, leaving us to wonder if he would not have shaken the British Monarchy by asking Charles about Camilla.

Poe would also have probably been in the Vatican for the funeral of Pope John Paul II and thrust into more breathtaking situations with the world's most powerful leaders, chatting with Bush, Blair, Chirac, Schroeder, Putin. Will they be discussing Tagalog movies?

One particularly scary situation Poe would have eventually found himself in, had he won if President Arroyo had not cheated, would be the Asean and Aspac summits. What would Poe do in those meetings, smile his most sincere movie smile?

It is not our intention to dishonor the memory of the dead. But there is no situation depicted here that was not already existing and available for our "discernment" while he was still alive.

If President Arroyo cheated, then Poe must have won on the strength of the Filipinos' overwhelming choice. If that had been the case, then what an indictment it would have been against us as a people.