THE so-called presidential forums and “debates” sponsored by the major networks, academic and civic groups are not really serious discussions on issues but preliminary investigations into alleged presidential crimes. The guests (the Palace aspirants) are usually asked one question by the host, and sometimes a second by a fellow candidate or a member of the audience, which are usually answerable by formula or “de kahon” replies.

There is hardly any in-depth exchange of ideas among the pretenders, or time to discuss an important policy at length. In a concession to fair play, all Comelec-accredited candidates—the serious and the fringe players—are given equal time to respond by the sponsor.

On one question, 95 percent of the guests concur in unanimity. It’s usually the closing query, one that must be asked to provide an exclamation point to the forum. On this question, almost all aspirants sharpen their knives with glee, making sure the blade pierces to the bone.

“If elected president,” the question goes, or as paraphrased, “will you run after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and charge her in court or before the Ombudsman for the crimes she committed in the nine and a half years she served in office?”

“Yes,” the chorus roars back, and each candidate, describes how he or she would prosecute the chief executive for every imagined crime. We get the sense that the new president will hit the ground running not with an agenda for growth but with a fool-proof case against GMA.

It’s a fair question, but has become almost a ritualistic one, a test of a candidate’s probity and proof of his powers as an avenging angel. The question also plays to a part of the gallery hungry for blood or bored after the bland replies or exchanges.
It perks up the candidate who is prepared for the query and knows how to deliver his expert reply.

The standard-bearer of the Lakas-Kampi CMD party, former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro has a reasonable reply.
Any case filed against a former president must follow due process, he says. The rule of law must apply. Matters of law, are decided by the court or the correct public office. Presumption of innocence and the right to counsel or defense are part of the legal process.

We gather from this principle that Gibo Teodoro, who has declared his independence from the Palace, will not stand in the way if a case prospers. But hounding the former president is not a priority, unlike to many of his opponents. This is understandable. The new chief executive will have to address a quiver of pressing problems: unemployment, poverty, secessionism in Mindanao, a persistent communist insurgency across the nation, chronic terrorism in the southern Philippines and cancerous political partisanship that poisons national unity and retards development.

A wrong litmus test is the challenge to the candidates to define their policy of persecution once elected. It also rings hollow when one considers that many of the “presidentiables” themselves carry the stigma of conviction or grave accusation of high corruption on their backs.