THE SUPREME COURT has thrown out a petition seeking to disqualify Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from running for the position of congressional representative in the second district of her home province of Pampanga. The post is currently being held by his son, Mikey Arroyo.

The decision came at the heels of the High Court’s recent ruling that appointed government executives are “deemed resigned” when they filed their respective certificates of candidacy.

So, unlike their boss, Cabinet officials running for elective positions in May 8 will not have the luxury of using the influence and resources of their powerful positions during their respective campaigns.

The ruling, according to the Supreme Court, was meant to “restrain the evils from running riot.”

The decision to consider appointed government executives resigned will hopefully keep a level or equal playing field in the political competition between those candidates occupying positions of power and the ordinary ones.

But the notion of a level or equal playing field in the May national and local elections does not apply to those already elected to their present posts, whether they’re just running for reelection or are running for a lower position in the case of those already in their term limits.

In my view, elected executives are exempted from the ruling because of the repercussions, complications, or what have you, that could result if the ruling elective executives vacate their posts because they’re running in an election.

While there is the second in command that can always take over if that happens, no incumbent is ready to give control of his or her position to the next in command, even if that next in command belongs to the party of the ruling elective executive.

That won’t happen no matter how short the time gap from the campaign period, to election day, to the actual resumption of the position at stake in case of a reelection.

I don’t know of any country that practices the opposite. It would be some kind of a political phenomenon if there is one.

In any case, I think lawmakers since time immemorial have already considered the ramifications, if not the folly of such an occurrence, so they granted the incumbent the privilege or right, or both, to remain in his or her elective post while being a candidate for reelection or running for a lower position.

However, to prevent the incumbent from using the influence and resources of his or her position in ensuring victory in the polls, the lawmakers created laws making it a crime to use such public resources available to the incumbent, including the influence of the elective position he or she is holding in seeking the same or another elective post.

Unfortunately, this form of check in keeping the political arena level or equal among all the political combatants is more observed in the breach than in compliance.

Mrs. Arroyo’s political situation is far from being an exception to the rule.

That’s why when she announced that she’s running for a Congress seat in May elections, the public howled in protest and demanded that she quit the presidency to level the playing field.

Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel from the Akbayan party list thought that the Commission on Elections erred in interpreting the Constitutional ban on the president seeking reelection, thus her petition seeking to disqualify Mrs. Arroyo from the latter’s congressional bid.

If the High Court reversed itself when it issued the ruling that the appointed government executives running for elective positions and exempted the elective executives, then it must necessarily exempt Mrs. Arroyo from similar rulings since she is also the elected Chief Executive.

Of course, there is still the unresolved issue of her questionable mandate.

That issue now appears moot and academic, more so now that Mrs. Arroyo term of presidency is less than four months away.
Take note that when it throw out the petition of Rep. Hontiveros-Baraquel, the Supreme Court merely upheld the earlier decision of the Commission on Elections junking the disqualification suit against the Chief Executive, saying it “did not see any grave abuse of discretion” on the part of the poll body.

Rep. Baraquel was decrying the unfairness she saw in the unleveled field of electoral competition between Mrs. Arroyo, who has all the resources at her control, and her congressional opponent in Pampanga, who somehow still believes he can beat the Chief
Executive in that level despite the uneven political arena.

Ah, life is so unfair!
(ntcwtc@yahoo.com)