Binay on dynasties: Why bar qualified bets?

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday joined critics of pending bills and a people’s initiative to bar members of political dynasties from running for public office.

“I don’t believe in prohibiting dynasties. Why should there be a law to prohibit someone who is qualified [from running] when the people want him [elected]? The real spirit of democracy is the will of the people—vox populi,” he told reporters in an interview at Makati City Hall where he attended a mass to mark his birthday on Nov. 11.

Binay, who is being criticized for building a political dynasty, asserted that the antidynasty proposals were “only being pushed by people who are perennial losers” in elections.

The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), which Binay leads, is fielding his daughter Nancy in next year’s midterm senate race.  Binay’s wife served as mayor of Makati City after his term expired and the current mayor is his son.

“Let us uphold and not frustrate the will of our countrymen. I repeat, if the candidates are honorable and the elections clean, anybody can run. If they ban dynasties, what next, prohibit the noninfluential and the uneducated from becoming candidates? Everybody should have equal opportunity,” he said.

“The issue of the dynasties is only cropping up because some people are not getting votes [to win]. They just want to eliminate their rivals,” he added.

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Palace: No pressure on PNP chief Bartolome

President Benigno Aquino III is not pressuring Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Nicanor Bartolome to retire ahead of his mandatory retirement in March next year, Malacañang said Thursday.

The President has not said anything about talking Bartolome into retiring early, said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte.

“And obviously, even from the demeanor and the statements of DG Bartolome, there’s no pressure on him,” Valte told state-run dzRB radio.

Valte said Interior Secretary Mar Roxas’ designation of PNP Deputy Director General Allan Purisima as head of Task Force Halalan, which will oversee security in next year’s midterm elections, should not be seen as an insult to Bartolome.

Purisima, who was promoted last Wednesday to police deputy director general, the equivalent of a three-star general rank in the military, is widely rumored to be the designated successor of Bartolome, who is retiring on March 16 when he turns 56, the mandatory retirement age for police officials. The date falls right in the middle of the election campaign period.

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'Political dynasties' haunt party-list system

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes on Wednesday maintained his personal stand against party-list groups whose nominees come from the same family or clan.

He told radio dzMM that the subject is still up for debate among members of the commission en banc.

Brillantes said the next announcement of cancellations of party-list registration and denials of party-list applications will be made next week.

He hopes for the poll body to release all cancellations and denials by November 15 and publish the final list of those who are approved for participation in the May 2013 elections by end of November.

Brillantes also hopes that the Supreme Court can, by December, rule on the appeal of those whose registrations were cancelled and denied by the Comelec, in time for the configuration of PCOS machines in January.

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