The 2016 inauguration of the next Philippine President would imply that the Commission on Elections COMELEC has established ,at the least, an updated voters' list via biometrics registration process. The list being clean and complete will always be relative to the observer's perspective.
As always, the election result would define policy changes or retention. The Straight Path (Daang Matuwid) platform of the current administration maybe adopted or dumped by the next President. Looking at the roster of Presidential applicants reveals that the platform's final destiny is even questionable with aspirants named Lucifer and Bin Laden.
For an ordinary Pinoy, the 2016 election promises to educate him and the millions of Filipino students. The question has already been raised indirectly. Who is a natural-born Filipino citizen?
From Article IV Citizenship of the 1987 Philippine Constitution,
SECTION 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.
A simple interpretation of the above would mean that a natural-born Filipino is one who does not need to do anything to acquire Filipino citizenship. This also includes those born prior to January 17, 1973 to Filipino mothers and elected Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority.
Since I am not a lawyer and do not read the Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA) volumes, I am not aware whether an adoptive case has been brought to court or not. In my opinion, the law is not prejudiced against adopted children and ,so, such definition equally applies to adopted children.
The next question is whether a natural-born citizen is a permanent status or not. Would a natural-born Filipino citizen be a lifetime status? From SECTION 2 above, the definition states "from birth" rather than "at birth". Moreover, citizenship is a dynamic status unlike ethnicity which is a permanent one.
Citizenship can be renounced or acquired unlike one's ethnic origin. Thus, a Filipino(a) who becomes a citizen of another country, renounces and later reacquires Philippine citizenship is not a natural-born Filipino(a) anymore. Simply put, reacquiring Philippine citizenship would disqualify one from running and holding top national positions - President, Vice-President and Senator.
Since citizenship is not like marriage which can be annulled or voided from the start, a document which shows one has renounced the citizenship acquired in-between renouncing and re-acquiring Philippine citizenship does not reinstate the individual's natural-born status. A concrete example is when one has renounced Philippine citizenship, acquired US citizenship, reacquired Philippine citizenship and then renounced US citizenship. For whatever intention is such citizenship carousel, the natural-born Filipino status has been lost during the renunciation of Philippine citizenship.
The above discussion on the natural-born status is definitely an opinion of this blog writer who hopes that the Supreme Court of the Philippines will provide a definitive interpretation which is consistent with the spirit of the law. The problem, however, is that the issue is raised only at the level of the COMELEC and the Senate Electoral Tribunal SET. Probably, we could expect a long period of appeals and counter-appeals on this matter.
The natural-born citizen issue is a critical element of the 2016 Philippine election. It is key to the objective that the 2016 presidential election will not be a repeat of the 2010 vice-presidential outcome. There is now a clear attempt to change the front runners of the game.
Of course, the current administration and ruling party Liberal Party LP wants their candidate to win. To increase their candidate's chances is to discredit the previous opponent and pit their bet with the most popular but neophyte candidate. As such, a new top two-contenders scenario is being hatched.
The popularity of the previous opponent has been decimated due to corruption charges. Whether the alleged charges are true or not, the survey results proved the charges' toll.
The next aim is to raise the popularity status of the administration candidate who had been hovering in the doldrums until 2015. One way is to utilize survey results. One survey asked the respondents to enumerate three preferred candidates for the presidency. The survey result was seemingly interpreted that if elections were held during the survey period,, the actual vote percentages will follow the survey rankings.
Current government officials' performance and trust-related surveys are also used to bolster the administration bet's popularity ranking. By now, the LP bet seems to be immediately trailing the most popular candidate. As expressed by the Senate President who belongs to the LP, the 2016 Presidential Election will be contested primarily by the neophyte candidate and the administration bet.
Aside from improving the administration bet's popularity rating, another phase is to establish that voters of the neophyte senator and the LP bet came from the same voter demographics. This might mean that in case the neophyte senator is disqualified due to some reason, logic follows that the administration bet will be the primary beneficiary.
Well, whether such strategies and courses of action are "morally" appropriate or not, political survival is the game. The previous century ,specifically the pre-martial law period, showed the rise of two dominant political parties - the Nacionalista Party NP and the LP. Due to the transfer of a previous and then popular LP member to NP, the latter party weakened when the standard bearer opted to form a new party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan KBL.
After the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, the LP has maintained its strength and proximity to the top national post. LP was content to collaborate or even be King/Queen maker prior to 2010. The 2010 election has made LP the most powerful party with the election of President Aquino - an achievement in spite of the existence (and eventual settlement) of several divisions inside the party (Salonga-Kalaw and Drilon-Atienza).
The 2016 election is anticipated to be like a continuing television series with unexpected twist and turns. What would happen with the candidacy of the neophyte senator who faces disqualification cases regarding her citizenship and residency status? Would the discredited dark horse from Makati City regain his power and repeat his come from behind victory in 2010? Would the administration bet finally capture the coveted political prize and continue the Straight Path platform?
With the closing of the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy last October 16, 2015, would an Ilonggo be the next Philippine president? There are three of them including the neophyte senator. If not an Ilonggo or the Vice-President from Makati City, would the top honcho remotely via substitution of the current PDP-Laban bet be the incumbent Mayor from Davao City? Would the next vice-president be from Bicol, the Son of the late "New Society" President or the Senator from Taguig?
More importantly, would the 2016 election produce political newbies? Would LP be still the dominant party? Would the election turn out to be honest and peaceful?
We just hope that the result will REALLY be for the benefit of the country and the people specially those who are considered to be the lesser Children of GOD.
No comments:
Post a Comment