Presidential wannabe claims to be ‘better’ than Obama

The only presidential aspirant who went to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) head office on Sunday to get a certificate of candidacy form claimed that he was better than US President Barack Obama, even if he has no following, political backing, or known accomplishments whatsoever. A man who introduced himself as Manny Lopez, 73, told reporters during the third day of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) at the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila, that he will be able to stand up against the likes of Obama and presidential aspirants like former Defense Chief Gilberto Teodoro and Senator Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III.

“Walang sinabi si Obama. Pwede naman ako sumabay sa kanila. Bakit? Kahit hindi ako mag-ayos baka mas guwapo pa ako sa kanila (I am better than Obama. I can run against them all. Why? because even if I don’t groom, I’m still handsomer than any of them)," he said. Lopez, who hails from the Bicol region, said he is an expert in governance that he can run for any available elective post. “Kahit na ano pwedeng-pwede (I can run for any position - president, vice president, senator, congressman, whatever," he said. Moreover, he said he studied economics in the Netherlands and Germany through a government scholarship. But when asked what his experiences in governance are, he just said that experience can be “learned" by reading books. With that, Lopez said he became the chairperson of the People Power Party and claimed he ran for congressman in the second district of Camarines Sur province in the 1960s but lost due to insufficient funds. He claimed that this time around, he would have enough money to launch a national campaign coming form New York, where he said he worked as head of the microfilm department of the United Nations main office. If elected, Lopez said he will wipe out poverty, particularly in the provinces “para ‘di na maghirap ang bansa, nakaaawa kasi ang mga tao (So that the country will not suffer anymore, the people are pitiful." On the other hand, the Comelec said it will take about a month to weed out nuisance candidates from the official list. It added that a verified position seeking to deny or cancel a COC may be filed by any person within five days from the last day of filing but not later than 25 days after it. But Lopez said there is no way he could be declared a nuisance candidate. “Bakit sasabihin nilang nuisance? Sila i-declare ko na nuisance, eh (Why would I be declared a nuisance candidate? I should declare them nuisance candidates instead)," he said. On Friday, 14 presidential aspirants and three aspiring senators filed their COCs. On the other hand, no national candidate filed a COC on Saturday. The filing of COCs will end at 12 midnight on December 1. - GMANews.TV