By Al S. Mendoza   PEOPLE say the presidential candidates have begun campaigning. The Comelec says not yet. So, what are they all doing—Lacson, Isko, Marcos Jr., Pacquiao and Leni? Why are they going around the country, showing themselves in public aboard gaudy and bedecked vehicles, waving and smiling at…

By Al S. Mendoza    IN every election, you only have three kinds of candidates. The politician.  The politician.  And the politician. No person in his right mind will ever enter an electoral derby. Know why? You need a lot of money for you to qualify as a politician. Actually, to be…

By Al S. Mendoza   ALL six presidential candidates are campaigning right now. Leni Robredo, Ping Lacson, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao, Bongbong Marcos and Bong Go have been visiting vote-rich places all over the country. Their mission? To woo voters to their side, of course. But are they allowed to…

By Al S. Mendoza   YOU think it’s over? I mean, do you believe the curtains have been rung down? Insertions intentionally in place? Substitutions suitably done spic and span? Withdrawals without leaving anyone unsatisfied observed to the hilt? That the show has ended—finally? Not really. It only just begun….

By Al S. Mendoza   WILL it happen tomorrow, November 15—if it hasn’t happened yet? That Sara Duterte will run—has trained her sight—for president in May 2022? Again, the tyranny of deadline prevailed as this was written in advance. But before I had finished this, Sara has withdrawn her bid…

By Al S. Mendoza   WE are a nation of oddities, if not ironies. Like, we have the longest Christmas season in the world. We are not that tall but basketball is our national pastime, a sport where height is might. We celebrate the death of our National Hero, not…

By Al S. Mendoza   WHAT is vote buying? You give money to a voter in exchange for a vote.  That simple. It is an election offense, of course. Both the vote buyer and vote seller can be either fined or imprisoned.  Or both. But it is hardest to prove if such…

By Al S. Mendoza   OK, class, listen up. Why do some people run for public office? Sometimes too many hopefuls are brave—crazy?—enough to make the plunge. Have I not said here a while back that 97 souls are running for president in the May 2022 election? What drives one…

By Al S. Mendoza   THE nation awaits the coming of the last candidate with bated breath. Who might that be? Sara Duterte, the current mayor of Davao City. A bit of trivia: Davao is the world’s largest city, where it is also home to the world’s only monkey-eating eagle….

By Al S. Mendoza   SO, how many candidates for president do we have right now, class? “Only” 57 as I write this hours before deadline. It could be more if we go by the trend of candidates rushing madly, wildly, to beat Comelec’s deadline of filing of the certificates…