Let's first know who the bright candidates are

There is no substitute for education. Insisting on that line, my late father belabored the importance of getting a college diploma. In the course of time, I developed my own bias for graduating from college with good grades.

So, each time I attend a graduation ceremony of a school, I always look out for honor students. The summa cum laudes, the magna cum laudes and the cum laudes get my highest attention. Whenever I can and without becoming obtrusive, I try to approach them and shake their hands not just to congratulate them for their laurels but more importantly to urge them to achieve what the future has in store for them. Then, I search for their proud parents and thank them more for the chance that their children can help our country than say trite statements.

Every now and then, we also read from newspapers, both as legitimate news stories and in the form of advertisement copy, the names of top-ten placers of licensure examinations. We have coined a name for them – “topnotchers” to distinguish them from the ordinary passers.

To me, honor graduates and topnotchers, are the cream of the crop. They are our people’s inexhaustible sources of hope. A very insignificant few of them may turn out to become social villains (because their pursuits are selfish), but on the whole, they represent our nation’s future. I propose that the brilliant lawyers, the top-notch doctors, the learned engineers, the discerning accountants, the profound teachers and the skilled vocational people be grouped together to form the core of our policy makers.

We are into the political season. This is the time when we are going to select our leaders. Within the next few months, we shall be called upon to pick the men and women who shall steer our country out of the present social and economic difficulties.

This is not to disparage the less talented. Neither do I intend to discriminate against the dull. I simply want to bet the future of our nation on the cream of the crop. After all, they have been tested by crucial intellectual jousts. The honors they achieved and the top places they notched show that they have a better understanding of things than most of us. We need to put them in places when they can formulate the guidelines for our collective forward move.

When I read the publicized list of candidates for Cebu City’s elective posts, my attention was immediately focused on two brilliant men and great achievers I know. One is Atty. Emmanuel Pacquiao and the other Atty. Fritz Quiñanola. They are heads and shoulders above the candidates for vice mayor and councilor respectively.

Atty. Pacquiao, whom I prefer to call Sir as a prefix to his boyhood nickname Tommy, is a fine example of an extra-ordinary man. Unlike most of us, he is not prone to telling the world that he and Atty. Joselito Alo graduated from their law degree as cum laudes. He placed third in the Bar Examinations and that achievement is an initial indicia that he can put sense in the city council deliberations.

In the resume of Atty. Quinanola, are marks of intellectual depth and outstanding leadership. Magna Cum Laude in his undergraduate years, post-graduate studies in law, high honors in the police academy, indicate unmistakable mental ascendancy.

This column is not designed as a campaign effort for them, although it might as well be. Rather, I am, by pointing out to specific candidates whose credentials have to be considered in our choices in May 2010 elections. In times past, both of them were denied the chance to serve us because they did not carry the names of our well-entrenched political figures. It is to their credit that they have made the pains of their earlier defeats as stepping stones for their renewed electoral effort.

I like to believe that there are other hopefuls with equal if not better credentials than Sir Tommy and Sir Fritz. Those of you who know them have the duty to let us know before it is too late.

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