Pinky and the Brain.

Here's an old profile of Senator and recent presidential bet Richard Gordon which I dug up:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060519052728/www.senate.gov.ph/senators/sen_bio/gordon_bio.htm

Reading his credentials and those of other "qualified" government officials makes me wonder- when will Congress work to amend the constitutional provision on the requirements of an individual to become president?

Article 7, Section II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states:

"No person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election."

The part about citizenship, that's a given. The "able to read and write part"- uh oh.

The law as expected, should espouse equality, but what happens when the said caveat is abused by corrupt officials who seek to embezzle funds rather than embellish the Filipino character with honesty and dignity?

And we wonder sometimes why some go guerrilla on the government at the drop of a hat.

At the end of every election, reformists tend to preach about the importance of voters education, and how corruption in government can be quelled by vigilance from the laity with regards to safeguarding morality in terms of sieving the truly qualified from the obviously ill-suited. These things are well and good, but here's the catch- how in the world can these things go from rhetoric to reality if the very definition of "acceptable" is muddled? If the so-called "rules" which claim to advocate equality have loopholes which allow the worms of society to potential spoil things which ought to be positives?

We had Erap for 3 years. We have had Gloria for 9. Will Noynoy exceed expectations? At least I know he's not a hack, but then again, in fairness to those with differing views, those have tended to be "famous last words" for the Philippine masses in the past. The safer thing would be to wait and see.

I didn't vote for Senator Gordon, but I can respect the fact that he's competent.

And in other news, it looks like we're in for another Lito Lapid-smeared upper house.

Great.