By Harvey Keh

ON MY way to work this morning, I heard some disturbing news about the results of a supposedly Malacanang-commissioned confidential survey on the early ranking of possible Presidentiables showing that former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada was on top with a 23 percent rating. The survey also showed Vice-President Noli De Castro in second place with Senators Francis Escudero, Manny Villar, Loren Legarda and Mar Roxas lagging behind.

I am personally saddened by the results of this survey if indeed this was conducted scientifically and accurately. I’m wondering if Filipinos have actually forgotten the crimes that former President Estrada has committed, including his involvement with illegal gambling operations that eventually led to his ouster in 2001. Have we also forgotten that this was the same man that was convicted of Plunder charges just a year ago?

Yet as I reflect further on the results of this survey, it appears that majority of Filipinos are now very disgusted and disillusioned with the present administration that they are willing to bring back a convicted plunderer in the hopes that he will do a much better job of running the affairs of our country. While I agree that many of us have lost hope and trust in the Arroyo administration, have we also lost patience in looking for new leaders who can effectively and ethically lead our country that we have to settle for former President Estrada? Have we chosen to give up and just accept that we can never find a better leader other than Erap? I would like to continue to believe that there are still many good, effective and well-meaning government leaders in our country who may not be as popular as Erap, but can do a much better job in helping our country move forward at the pace of our Asian neighbors such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, China and Vietnam.

[Read the rest of this entry »]