The
second envelope
One
of this year’s strong Oscar contenders,
“Traffic” takes a hard look at the
destruction the flourishing illegal drug trade
wreaks on families and law enforcers on both
sides of the US-Mexican border. Directed by
Steven Soderbergh, the must-see film stars
possible Best Actor Benicio del Toro as a
Mexican cop drawn into corruption, Michael
Douglas as US drug czar Bob Winfield, and his
real-life wife Catherine Zeta-Jones as the
pregnant wife of a drug cartel member.
In
an early scene, outgoing drug czar General
Landry tells his successor an anecdote
about political transition. Says Landry: “When
Kruschev was forced out, he sat down and wrote
two letters. He gave them to his successor. He
said, `When you get into a situation you can’t
get out of, open the first letter and you’ll
be safe. When you get into a second situation,
open the second letter.’
“Soon
enough, this guy finds himself in a tight space.
So he opened the first letter which said, `Blame
everything on me.’ So he blamed the old man
and it worked like a charm. When he found
himself in another situation, he opened the
second letter and it said, `Sit down and write
two letters.’”
Based
on current info, there is bound to be
adjustments in current crop of candidates for
the top two provincial posts as well as in two
or three mayoral contests.
Except
for the seat in Congress, which people feel
would be Joseph Santiago’s for the taking, the
race for governor is tricky. Two of the five
candidates – “Kuya Jun” Torres and
Gregorio Verceles - may be dropped by Comelec as
nuisance candidates upon the expected petition
of Rep. Jun Verceles. That leaves three -
Verceles, incumbent Hector Sanchez and grand old
man Beroy Alcantara.
Verceles
is given an edge to bag his bitter rival’s
seat on a one-on-one basis but the 11th hour
entry of the advertising exec is certain to
factor in the division of the votes. The former
governor’s abrupt decision, according to
knowledgeable sources, is allegedly due to the
failure of the governor to show them the money.
Of the initial P5 million required from each
member of the triumvirate, he allegedly coughed
up only a fifth. This is in addition to the
widespread perception that Sanchez would be easy
fodder for Verceles, who has most barangay
captains in his pocket.
In
the vice gubernatorial contest, Alcantara
son-in-law Cesar Sarmiento’s victory hinges on
the withdrawal before March 30 of former Gov.
Vicente M. Alberto and niece Rosalie Alberto-Estacio.
There are rumors that RAE’s withdrawal from
the race (upon which Ente would voluntarily bow
out) is now the subject of a bidding war
involving millions of pesos.
In
Virac, Mayor Cito Alberto and his handlers are
considering a post-Ribong scenario in case
rumors about Sarmiento’s ill health prove to
be true. But such a scenario depends on whether
the doctor proves strong enough to lead the
Lakas campaign or, even if he withdraws well
ahead of the polls, his substitute would be good
enough to ensure that the administration of the
capital town changes hands for the fourth time
in a row.
Now,
according to COMELEC rules and regulations, if
any candidate wishes to withdraw his candidacy
at any time after the last day of filing the
certificate, all he has to do is file a
subscribed and sworn statement of withdrawal.
In
case a candidate dies, withdraws, or is
disqualified for any cause, he may only be
substituted by a person belonging to the
candidate’s political party. Upon nomination
by the party, the substitute may file his
certificate of candidacy with COMELEC not later
than noon of May 14.
However,
Resolution No. 3636, which embodies the
implementing rules and regulations forged by
C0MELEC upon the approval of the Fair Election
Practices Act, provides that “in case of valid
substitutions after the official ballots have
been printed, the votes cast for the substituted
candidates shall be considered as stray votes
but shall not invalidate the whole ballot.” It
adds that, “for this purpose, the official
ballots shall provide spaces where the voters
may write the name of the substituted candidates
if they are voting for the latter; provided,
however, that if the substitute candidate is of
the same family name, this provision shall not
apply.”
This
means that a candidate who wants to withdraw,
die or disqualify himself cannot afford to wait
until election day before withdrawing from the
race. All votes cast for the withdrawing
candidate would be declared “stray” and are
useless particularly if majority of the
electorate votes for him since there is
practically no time left to ensure that all
voting precincts are informed of the withdrawal
and substitution. To ensure that the votes are
not wasted, the party would be looking for a
substitute of the same family name as the
withdrawn, dead or disqualified candidate.
March
is Fire Prevention Month. It’s the brightest
month of the year as statistics show that
majority of fires break out in March.
Now,
there is nothing on the horizon to show that a
bright future is in store for local
firefighters. When they went out for their
motorcade last week, the fire truck had to be
pushed so it could join the parade on its own
power.
The
BFP’s three fire trucks have yet to see a roof
over its heads while firefighters from Virac are
still on a live-in arrangement with the
provincial force.
The
capital town’s fire fighting unit has been
asking for a lot on which could be constructed a
fire station, probably near or inside the
municipal compound. A proposal to house the unit
in a space beside the PNP station is still being
considered but no decision has been made.
Although firemen are grumbling that not much
attention has been given to them by the
municipal government, it would not be entirely
fair to blame it for the BFP’s pitiful
condition. To be fair, it was the Alberto
administration, through the Sangguniang Bayan,
which successfully procured a fire truck from
the DILG more than a year ago. As to where that
fire truck is at present, it would be best to
look around the provincial capitol.
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