Grace Poe: A classic case of too much too soon
The statement over national television of her cousin, Sheryl Cruz, blood daughter of Rosemarie Sonora, the younger sister of Grace Poe's adoptive mother, Susan Roces, last week, was quite damaging, to say the least, if not devastating to her rather premature and ambitious candidacy, coming as it was from a close family relation. The first who made the same frank remark was our very own Cebuano unorthodox senator, Serge Osmeña, who is a sworn supporter of Grace Poe for the 2022 presidential polls. If we therefore follow the senators' and the cousin's remarks, it can be said that Grace is a good presidential idea whose time has not yet come.
There is a Tagalog word for a guava fruit which is far from ripe, and that is "mapakla." In Cebuano, "hilaw pa," "aplod pa" or "apla." She looks very fresh and immaculate and pure precisely because she is untried, untested, never wounded and scarred in the perilous terrains of public service. She has neither experienced the rigors as a cabinet member nor a decision-maker at a higher executive level. If Secretary Leila de Lima does not even think herself as presidentiable, despite her long experiences and track records in the Commission on Human Rights and in DOJ, what makes Grace think that she is prepared for the presidency. Not even Senate President Franklin Drilon or Speaker Feliciano Belmonte ever deluded themselves as presidentiable.
What then are the qualifications of Grace Poe? What track record is she going to bring to Malacañang? What degree of executive competence is she prepared with? Can she stand up to the bullying pressures of China or the renewed impetus in the insurgency and the Muslim secessionist movements? Will she be respected by Russia's Vladimir Putin or the USA's next president, whether he be Donald Trump, Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton? Can Grace Poe hold a lamp in front of Germany's Angela Merkel? Will Indonesia President Jokowi Widodo listen to her if she attempts to plead for the life of a Filipino drug convict in Jakarta? Well, no matter how her admirers try to romanticize her image, I have my serious doubts.
With all due respect - whilst we need to be polite and more diplomatic to a lady - but this is going to be a presidential elections not the supreme student council elections in UP, Ateneo or SWU, UV or USC. This is serious business. We cannot afford to commit another major mistake, by putting into the highest office a neophyte, a "novatus," one who has not demonstrated a track record of high level decision-making. We cannot afford to experiment on the presidency of the nation. In Rotary, Jaycees, Lions or even in the Knights of Columbus or the Freemasons, newly accepted members are not prematurely made the top honcho. They must go through an intensive and extensive development and on-the-job training and initiation. What more for the Philippine presidency?
Today, the crime problem is about to hit a crisis proportion. Kidnappings of foreign tourists, rapes of toddlers and infants, murders, parricides committed by drug addicts against their own family members, robberies, carnappings and hold-ups, terrorist attacks, and the threats by ISIS, Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf have been exacerbated by the incompetence and lack of decisiveness of our decision-makers. Can Grace Poe crack all these nuts? Can she solve the worsening drug problems, the illegal gambling, the trafficking and illegal recruitment that victimize hundreds if not thousands of our hapless people? Can she discipline abusive policemen, corrupt officials and inept civil servants?
I wish I can be more of a gentleman and pretend that I honestly believe that she can do all these and many more. But what matters most is for us to reflect very deeply on our choices. Let us do ourselves a favor by thinking very hard about our country and the lack of readiness of some, many or all of the candidates. With all due respect, she may be popular and looks better than Jojo Binay or Mar Roxas. I honestly think that Digong Duterte is more qualified.
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