Sun, 20 Dec 2009

Nicanor Perlas struck off list of Philippine presidential candidates

By NNA correspondent Walter Siegfried Hahn

MANILA (NNA) – “And then there were eight” – that was the tenor of reporting in the Philippine media on the decision of the Commission on Elections, Comelec, to reduce the number of presidential candidates from 99 to eight.

One of those directly affected was Nicanor Perlas, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize and representative of anthroposophy, who reproduced the Comelec arguments on his website asking: “Is Nicanor Perlas a nuisance?”

Resolution 8713 of 16 December casts doubt on the ability of the 91 excluded candidates – including Perlas – to wage a national campaign and on whether they are serious about their candidacy or are merely nuisance candidates.

The 59-year-old farmer and environmental activist announced his candidacy for the presidential elections, to be held on 10 May 2010, in June and has since been doing the rounds of TV talk and other shows and election meetings. In a first reaction, Perlas said the decision by the Comelec to remove him from the list of candidates “was really surprising”.

Another official reason for reducing the number of candidates is to prevent confusion among voters. Since the Comelec is solely responsible for approving candidates, its decision is final.

Perlas nevertheless intends to mount a legal challenge to the decision. “The election campaign is not just for the rich,” he said, adding: “What the Comelec is saying is that you cannot be the president of the country if you´re not rich”. He had already mobilised more than 100,000 volunteers and had over 700 campaign coordinators throughout the country.

Perlas pointed to the many presidential debates and forums in which he had taken part, some of which had been organised by the Comelec itself. His abilities and qualification had not been questioned, he said. “I don´t think the Comelec has the legal authority to define what campaign is the appropriate type of campaign,” Perlas added.

In the unlikely event that Perlas succeeds in winning his legal challenge, his chances of winning the presidency appear slim, however. In a current representative survey, in which 1,200 voters were each asked to choose their three favourite candidates, his name did not feature.

Perlas did issue a statement on the Maguindanao massacre of 23 November, in which 57 people were brutally murdered in connection with regional elections. But to many people who hear him for the first time he appears too theoretical and complicated.

He also appears distanced from his own environmental base. In a whole-page advert in the major Philippine newspapers, for example, a comprehensive alliance of environmentalists called on the president finally to stop ærial spraying of pesticides – Perlas was not among the signatories.

An online campaign has meanwhile been started in support of Perlas with a petition to persuade the Comelec to reinstate Perlas as a candidate.

END/nna/wsh

www.nicanor-perlas.com

www.thepetitionsite.com/1/let-nick-run

www.comelec.gov.ph

Item: 091220-01EN Date: 20 December 2009

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