Editorial

Lucky guy

A Makati court last week granted former lawmaker Gregorio Honasan’s petition for bail. So in these last few weeks before the elections, he is free to make the rounds of voters and convince them he is worthy of being re-installed in the Senate. He says he has much catching up to do.

But things have at least been going well for the man after his arrest in November that smacked too much of an action movie.

He was able to obtain permission to personally file his certificate of candidacy with the election body. His actual filing was well-publicized. His not being drafted in the slate of the Genuine Opposition perhaps even worked to his advantage: He was perceived as an underdog, a lone crusader.

Consequently, he fared considerably well in the surveys. He was not among the top, to be sure, but he was not at the tail-end, either. All this while it was his children who were doing the campaigning for him.

Now Honasan says he aims to fight poverty and hunger and that he is willing to help the administration “through peaceful and legal means.”

Of course, the freedom is temporary. Findings in the re-investigation conducted by the justice department will determine whether he will have more time to campaign or be put behind bars again.

By the time the findings are released, he will indeed have caught up—not bad for someone who has habitually stoked the fires, of coup d’etat, only to run and hide when the blaze gets a tad too big.

Next time, Gringo should attempt to deserve his good fortune by, at the very least, owning up to his actions.

Or else, his luck may run out on him one of these days.

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