Santiago: Senator-endorsers ‘ugly,’ ‘unfit’ for office - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
Santiago: Senator-endorsers ‘ugly,’ ‘unfit’ for office
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago branded "ugly'' and "unfit'' as commercial models fellow lawmakers who endorse commercial products, prompting Senator Panfilo Lacson to appeal to corporations "crazy'' enough to get her as a product endorser so she would stop griping about her peers' media mileage.
"Gusto nilang maging commercial endorser, eh ang papangit naman nila, [They want to be commercial endorsers but they are so ugly],'' said Santiago in an interview with reporters following her turn over of P12 million worth of medical equipment to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Tuesday.
Santiago said some of the senator endorsers did not even check on the effectiveness of the products they were endorsing.
"Senator [Loren] Legarda should have checked with experts first before endorsing her skin whitening product,'' said Santiago, drawing cheers from the PGH medical staff.
Santiago said while she and some media watchers criticized "this bad example set by people who aspire to be national leaders," they continued with their premature campaigning through billboards and television commercials.
"They have rationalized it to themselves, it is a revolting phenomenon. It is loathsome to have our lawmakers be the first to violate our laws. They all know the purpose of the Election Code is to discourage early campaigning because it will favor rich candidates over the poor,'' said Santiago.
Santiago said that if wealth were the basis for winning in the elections, the public should just auction off the presidency.
Santiago noted that the Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that the practice of waiting until the last day to file candidacy was an "underhanded way of circumventing the law against premature campaigns.'' Technically, a candidate becomes one only after filing a certificate of candidacy but Santiago wants the Commission on Elections to resolve this issue. "The [Comelec]) has the jurisdiction to make a preliminary ruling that of course can be appealed to the Supreme Court,'' said Santiago.
But Lacson, who is the commercial model of a skin clinic, stressed that "any lawyer worth his salt will tell you there's nothing illegal in these endorsements.''
"I hope and pray that some crazy companies will risk losing money on certain products and get her as an endorser so she would stop sourgraping on our ads,'' said Lacson.
Senator Francis Escudero, who is pitching for a drug supplement and slimming salon, shrugged off Santiago's attacks.
"Her opinion on that issue is not important to me, what is important is my wife disagrees with her,'' said Escudero in an interview.
Escudero said the high court and Comelec allowed the practice because it was far from the election season, the endorsers had yet to formalize their candidacy, and nothing on the ads had a "vote'' sign on the billboards.
Santiago: Senator-endorsers ‘ugly,’ ‘unfit’ for office
Originally Posted by dieseldust
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