EDITORIAL - Depriving "nuisance" bets their freedom

Nobody is going to admit it. But when media had a field day reporting about the fringe candidates who filed their certificates of candidacy along with regular politicians, the common thread that strung up all these stories was unspoken ridicule.

Right now, a lot of people are up in arms against a new cybercrimes prevention law. They say it stifles freedom of expression. Yet these same people, joined by a lot more, are laughing at the man who, claiming to own the Philippines, wants to be a member of its Senate.

A man who thinks he owns the country has as much right to free expression as those who hide in cyberspace anonymity. In fact he is a more forthright person by coming out in the open to file his certificate of candidacy.

And yet this country that proclaims itself to be the showcase of democracy in Asia laughs at this man to his face, and is likely to initiate proceedings that will eventually declare him a nuisance candidate, just as it will Kris Aquino’s “husband” or that water-to-gasoline guy.

But what these people simply want, which sadly isn’t as clear to this supposedly learned nation, is to have the freedom to express themselves. They are not being a nuisance. They are just exercising their right to do what is guaranteed them under our Constitution.

The same constitution offers few but very specific requirements for public office. Not to seem crazy in the eyes of others is not one of them. Therefore, no one, not even the Comelec, has the right to disqualify a candidate for being a nuisance. And just what is a nuisance, anyway?

Unlike many regular candidates we know, they do not foist and force themselves upon voters. It is enough for them to know their rights are respected. Some may talk on street corners to whoever cares to listen. But that’s about it. They don’t bother you, you don’t bother them.

If what the Comelec fears is to end up with a very long list of candidates, that is a very small price to pay for upholding the right of any person not otherwise disqualified by law to stand for election to any public office.

A nuisance is not he who merely exercises his right to run for office but he who, once in office, steals everything he lays his hands on to amass power and wealth and then use every means available to stay on. This is what we should be doing something about.