http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=jojoRobles_aug27_2008
Jojo Robles
And the first declared candidate in the 2010 presidential elections is none other than... Bayani Fernando? I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.
Ako naiinis
Finally—and to no one’s surprise—the metropolis’ chief traffic aide, the father of the U-turns and of state-sanctioned bus-jackings, has declared his intentions. Typically, Fernando says he will run for president in the next elections with or without the support of the ruling Lakas-CMD coalition.
All the same, Bayani told an interviewer that he is confident of the endorsement of President Arroyo and other party leaders because he is qualified to be the next “no-nonsense president of this country.” Never mind if his name isn’t even one of those being considered by the coalition for the position.
baka no singing talent president of this country
“I’m the only one of the presidential hopefuls who has declared my intention to run this early,” he declared. As if that would improve his chances of winning.
But Bayani hinted that he already has the money and the organization to run a nationwide campaign. “Even if the party doesn’t pick me, I will continue with the campaign because I have a lot of friends who will help me,” said the MMDA chairman, who likes to be addressed “Secretary Fernando.”
Money: pera ng bayan
organization: MMDA at Marikina City Gov't
But President Fernando? To paraphrase the old joke, I was told when I was young that anyone could become president. With Bayani gunning for the highest office in the land, now I know that to be true.
In a way, we should be grateful that Fernando has announced his candidacy. Being a mere appointed official, he must now resign from his post if he has any shame and sense of propriety—or be fired posthaste by his boss.
Why? Because from here on in, anything Bayani does can and should be interpreted as being done in furtherance of his declared ambition. And he retains an undue advantage over other candidates who do not have taxpayers bankrolling his high profile—including the giant posters of himself that do nothing but add to the billboard forest that blights the city.
Of course, the Omnibus Election Code’s Article IX, Section 66 states that “any person holding a public appointive office or position, including active members of the Armed Forces and officers and employees in government-owned or -controlled corporations, shall be considered ipso facto resigned from his office upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy.” But since Bayani has declared for the presidency this early, he must understand that not all of us taxpayers are among the “friends” he brags about, and some of us will not foot the bill for his overweening ambition.
There is a reason why the law prevents people holding appointive office like Bayani from using their position to further their political plans. And just because he has declared but has not filed his certificate (something he can’t do anyway, because Comelec isn’t accepting any at the moment) doesn’t mean that Bayani can’t launch his campaign using money that he doesn’t own or wasn’t donated to him by his so-called friends.
ano ngayon ang pinagkaiba ni bayani fernando sa iba pang trapo dyan? wala. pareho lang sila
As soon as Bayani steps down, he can campaign all he wants using his own money. But until he does, will the voters please remember that the MMDA chairman is using taxpayer funds and is even getting a salary to get to Malacanang?
Where are those eager-beaver Senate investigators—many of them also undeclared presidential candidates quick to strike down any potential rival in 2010—when you really need them?
* * *
Speaking of Bayani’s friends, we wonder if mall magnate Henry Sy isn’t among those people that the MMDA chairman is counting on to provide major funding for his early-bird campaign to become president. That’s because some people in Bayani’s home turf of Marikina City (where Bayani’s wife Marides Carlos Fernando, or MCF, is mayor) are asking why Sy’s newest mall on the eastern bank of the river on Marcos Highway was provided a free off-and-on ramp complex by the government—which is supposedly short of funds for any major infrastructure project that presumably has higher priority.
And how true are reports that the contractor for the new SM Marikina mall is none other that Bayani’s own BF Corp.? With Bayani acting as Metro Manila regional development council boss, his wife as the local chief executive providing all the city permits and his construction company building the mall and the taxpayer-funded ramps, you have to wonder if Sy isn’t way up there in the list of Bayani’s most favored.
true nga eh...ito ang link oh...
SM Marikina
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_City_Marikina
Doesn’t the construction of the ramp complex to favor one mall—probably the only mall in the country to receive such preferential treatment from the people who identify priority infrastructure projects—sound suspicious? Especially since the contractor for the project is none other than the one owned conjugally by the two government officials who have the power (and the chutzpah, really) to “facilitate” its construction?
sounds like the voice of bayani fernando
As for the less moneyed people who seem to want to be counted among the friends of the MMDA chairman, how true are the reports buzzing all over the Internet that vehicles that carry the overly large “BAYANI” banners with the flag on them are routinely waved off by MMDA traffic enforcers when they violate traffic laws? And, like the tarpaulins along Edsa and elsewhere that feature Bayani’s face, is taxpayer money being used for these rolling campaign streamers, as well?
To the people who have asked me if the report that traffic aides give stickered vehicles a free pass is true, I routinely reply that I wouldn’t really know. The last thing I would do to my own car is to plaster the name of Bayani along its entire length—and I drive a very small car.
Bayani, of course, has been known to brush aside any criticism of his official acts—especially about their legal aspects. Which should give anyone who considers his candidacy pause.
I get it bakit hindi manakikinig si BF sa mga critics nya. nabingi na siya sa sarili nyang boses. hahaha
But that’s Bayani all over. Except that now that he’s a declared presidential candidate, he must know that he cannot brush aside all questions about his actions, official or otherwise.
No-nonsense president? We should be thankful that the presidency is one of those positions Bayani can’t get appointed to and abuse.
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