ONE report I found quite interesting yesterday was on page 8 of this daily. It was about a remark from a university executive in the south. Eddie M. Alih, chancellor of the Mindanao State University’s College of Technology and Oceanology in Tawi-tawi, said it is important for Filipinos to vote in next year’s elections for the presidential candidate’s ability, rather than on his popularity.

Which is the basic reality confronting the Filipino electorate right now. They are being titillated by a presidentiable who is popular as a movie hero like Erap or who rose from poverty to become a billionaire like Manny Villar, or who has a pedigreed family name like Noynoy Aquino, or who is scion of a popular family name and grandson of a former president like Mar Roxas.

Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy

But what is important to this country now is someone who has the genius and skill to govern. Yet who among the presidential wannabes now possesses the singular quality that makes him worthy of the position he aspires for? That should be the objective of a selection process right-thinking voters should undertake individually or as a group.

As Chancellor Alih said in his talk before the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center forum on “Genuine Leadership and Good Governance,” the coming election is a new beginning and an opportunity to strive towards a better life.

“With the forthcoming May 2010 elections, the anxiety and the energy that go into the political process is enough measure to say the least that Filipinos generally consider politics to be all of their existence as a people.”

There is graver responsibility being laid on the shoulders of Filipino voters in the coming presidential rumble, considering that at stake here is not just the usual control of the government but also the powers that is innate in the governmental structure.

Anyone who sits on top of the structure can exercise at will for good or bad, the same breadth of power at the expense of the general welfare. In fact, it is the willful exercise of this innate power of government that has become a traditional bone of contention of the candidates.

Now then, which of the presidential aspirants would you choose?

Perhaps we should have more events such as what the 100 local government heads did with four of the presidential aspirants early this week. They invited Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro and Sens. Chiz Escudero, Manny Villar and Benigno Aquino III.

It appears Escudero’s responses, according to the report, got the most applause.