The remains of the campaign
Raul Roco has returned. The question though is whether Roco has returned just as Gandalf did -- at the turning of the tide, that is.

Most believe that Roco is destined for Loserville come May 10. Why then should we still vote for him? Because Roco is still the most qualified among the candidates, notwithstanding his sickness. (Manuel Quezon III in his Inquirer column today also obliquely argues that life-threatening sicknesses spur men into great action.)

Captious critics say Roco has a pathetic political network as revealed by his patched senatorial slate devoid of established names. Really, you cannot help but feel for Roco. He has occupied many important government positions and yet he has miserably failed to strike political friendships along the way. He remains an outsider to the political Establishment. All the incumbent governors in Bicol, for example, are campaigning against him.

While some voters were disheartened by Roco's lack of popularity among Establishment circles, I instead was spurred by the fact. Roco's lackluster senatorial slate is a proof that he has not invested much in our current political system. He therefore could change it without upsetting too many friends and too much capital.

Detractors also claim that Roco has a bad temper. What they don't know however is that it is often the trait of great men that they have short patience and bad temper. Even the saintly Mother Teresa, few people know and the Catholic Church's canonical committee wished to suppress, was known to burst into impatient tirades against her Sisters of Charity.

For symbolic reasons and more, I also think it is about time that the country should elect a president from Bicol, the country's poorest region.

The presidency should also be the time for Roco to cleanse himself once and for all of the ACCRA sins he committed lawyering for Danding Cojuangco, doing the legal paper for the latter's robbing of coconut farmers, most of whom are in Bicol. This is a political sin that cries for restitution. (Roco at one point offered the PCGG to tell all, but this was preempted by the Supreme Court which ruled that such action would violate the confidence of lawyer-client relationship.)

Roco should take care of his health. We pray that in the event that he lose this election, he would have the heart--- and the health--- to run again in the next elections, six years from now. Because after FPJ, there is no other threatening showbiz presidentiable in the political horizon. Roco supporters, from Batanes to Sulu, should be glad and bring good tidings: Piolo Pascual is still too young to run for president.