MANILA – Unknowns stole the thunder on Friday from their more famous counterparts by being the first to file their certificates of candidacy, especially for president, before the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the May 2010 polls.
Friday was the first day set by the Comelec for candidates to file such certificates to enable them to participate for the various elective positions at stake in the coming polls. Deadline for the filing is on December 1.
One of the first to arrive at the Comelec national headquarters in the centuries-old Intramuros (Spanish walled city) of Manila at 8:40 am Friday was Rigoberto Madera Jr, 61, who described himself as “emperor of the world” and a “six-star general.”
Madera said he is running for the presidency on the platform of improving the country’s educational system and solving its economic problems.
He said he is not worried about funding for his election campaign, pointing out that “God is on my side.”
According to Madera, he is No. 1 in the various surveys and that after getting the Philippine presidency in the May 2010 polls, his next target would be elected as US president and then secretary-general of the United Nations until he is crowned “emperor of the world.”
Another early bird was Gerardo Samia of San Fernando City in Pampanga, the home province of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Central Luzon.
Samia said he is more popularly known in his hometown by his nickname “Manok” (rooster) because he can mimic a cock’s crow. As a result, he said voters can use his nickname on their ballots so these could be counted in his favor.
Samia added he is running for president because he was cheated when he ran in the election for “barangay” (village) officials in his hometown.
Madera and Samia were among the many candidates who flocked to the Comelec office in Manila when it opened its doors to accept their certificates on Friday.
A Comelec spokesman said other candidates can file their certificates before the agency’s regional or local offices nationwide, with the deadline set on December 1.
The spokesman also said they are accepting such certificates as long as they contain the requirements set, such as platform of government, age and the like.
But he emphasized the acceptance of their applications doesn’t mean they will be allowed to run in next year’s year’s polls. He explained the Comelec still has to determine whether they have funds to finance their campaign nationwide, especially those running for elective national offices like president, vice president or senator.
The Comelec will also determine whether some can be considered as “nuisance” candidates because they have the same surnames or nicknames as the other candidates, which make them ineligible to participate in the 2010 polls, the spokesman added.
He also said that on or before the December 1 deadline, they are expecting the big names in the presidential race and their running mates to submit their certificates of candidacy.,
Among them are Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd, the only son of the late global democracy icon president Corazon Aquino and the presidential standard bearer of the Liberal Party (LP) and his running mate Senator Mar Roxas.
Aquino and Roxas are the odds-on favorites to win in the May 2010 polls based on the results of public opinion surveys conducted by two of the country’s major polling groups – Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia.
The others are Senator Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista (Nationalist) Party and his vice presidential candidate Senator Loren Legarda; former defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro of the administration’s Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats and running mate actor and TV host Edu Manzano; and ousted president Joseph Estrada of the “Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino” (PMP or Party of the Filipino Masses) and his vice presidential candidate Mayor Jejomar Binay of suburban Makati City in Metro Manila.
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