Disqualified Acosta still outranks three presidential bets

Vetellano Acosta, who has been disqualified from the presidential race, is currently ranking 7th among 10 presidential contenders, a partial, unofficial tally of election results showed. The virtually unknown Acosta, who claims to be president of a Palau-based bank, garnered 161,305 votes, more than the combined votes so far for environmentalist Nicanor Perlas (48,343), Senator Jamby Madrigal (41,522), and Ang Kapatiran bet Olongapo Councilor JC Delos Reyes (39,522), according to GMA's partial, unofficial tally of election results as of 11:06 a.m. Studies have shown that ballot positioning can influence candidate selection, especially since some voters — especially those who may not be well-informed — are inclined to go for the first name on the ballot. [See: Battle for the ballots: party-lists play name game] Acosta was disqualified from seeking public office for failing to prove that he could launch a nationwide campaign without the backing of a political party. But after filing a motion for reconsideration with a certificate of nomination from the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), his candidacy was approved by the poll body. The Liberal Party then filed a disqualification case against Acosta, saying he is not the official KBL bet and that the KBL failed to pass the certificate of nomination before the Dec. 1, 2009 deadline. The LP said Acosta was only running to dislodge their standard bearer Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III from his original position as first in the alphabetically-arranged list of candidates for president to be printed on the ballots. Comelec records eventually revealed that Acosta is not even a registered voter in the area where he claims to be one, making him ineligible to run for public office. Acosta was disqualified from the race last March 4 for failing to convince the public that he was serious in his presidential ambitions, but not before the Comelec printed 10 million ballots including his name. By that time the mass media, bent on giving equal time to the presidential candidates, had already given Acosta substantial news coverage. - RJAB Jr./HS, GMANews.TV