“In politics stupidity is not a handicap.” –Napoleon Bonaparte

The best season to lose friends and shatter relationships is election season. The public forgets about kinship, fraternal bonds, pinagsamahan, camaraderie, and “utang na loob.” They refuse to look back on past events that shaped their relationships and no long brag about “kumares” and “kumpares.”

Politics is a poison and it will eviscerate all that has been built of human virtue and goodwill; in politics, as the old saying goes: “There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests.”

The candidates in various races are not strangers to each other. If they weren’t classmates in their younger years, they are relatives, served as godparents, neighbors, childhood playmates, “colleagues,” mentors or protégés, and the list goes on. Such relationships carry no weight on the political stage but, as it has been proven in the past and about to be presented during this year’s campaign period, candidates are hell-bent on squaring off and unleash cannonballs.

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The Philippine National Police must not allow themselves to be used as partisan tools.

Raids and arrests of political personalities will always be viewed with suspicion and skepticism, especially if the target in not a known violator of the law or has no previous record.

If such an individual is arrested for a crime “ostensibly committed” before they sought public office, authorities must throw the book at them and haul them to jail. However, if a person is arrested merely after police were “tipped off,” it may appear to be politicking and offer a poor image of law enforcement; especially if the allegations turn out to be duds.

Legitimate raids should be conducted against the dregs of society and if such operations are tainted with politics, they must be aborted and abandoned./WDJ