The race for the presidency in 2010 is getting to be very interesting with no less than 10, I repeat 10, presidential wannabes.

There are of course former Senate President Manny Villar, Vice President Noli de Castro, Senators Mar Roxas, Loren Legarda, Ping Lacson and Chiz Escudero, not counting out MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, Makati Mayor Jojo Binay, and Johnny-Come-Lately Senator Bong Revilla.

Now, we have Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro mentioned as a probable administration candidate.

The Joker is former President Erap Estrada who, I believe, considering his body language and his pronouncement, will run despite claims that he?s not qualified under the Constitution.

What makes the race interesting if indeed Erap runs is whether or not the Supreme Court will fast-track his case since there will surely be a disqualification case against him. If he runs, and is perceived to be a winner, will the Supreme Court disregard the voice of the people?

Santa Banana, it?s even worse if he runs and wins, and then gets disqualified. My gulay, it?s scenario that can push country to the edge.

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For over two decades, Banco Filipino has been waging a battle for full vindication after its illegal closure in 1985.

Banco Filipino, which was organized by the late Tomas Aguirre after his retirement from the Philippine National Bank before Martial Law, then became the no. 1 savings and mortgage bank.

It became so profitable that some Marcos people during Martial Law wanted a slice of the pie. That was the time when during the Marcos dictatorship, they went to the ?mining business? and sought ownership of profitable firms, including banks by claiming that ?this is mine, that one is mine? and so forth and so on.

The story goes that when the Marcos dictatorship sent people to take over Banco Filipino from the Aguirres, the latter vehemently refused. Thus, the late Central Bank governor ?Jobo? Fernandez was told to close the bank, and he did it on Jan. 25, 1985. It was actually as early as July 27, 1984 when Banco Filipino was placed under conservatorship when the lawyers of the bank filed its first case. The bank then was placed under receivership and on March 22, 1985, under liquidation.

The long legal battle began for the vindication of the bank, and on Dec. 11, 1991, the Supreme Court annulled a Monetary Board resolution and ordered the reorganization and reopening of the bank declaring that its closure was ?done arbitrarily and with grave abuse of discretion.

Came the abolition of the Central Bank and its replacement by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. It was at this point that Banco Filipino amended its complaints and its demand for damages to include the new monetary authority in its suit for P18.8 billion, not including damages also sought against the estate of the late governor ?Jobo? Fernandez.

Thus, after the High Court ruled that the new BSP can also be held accountable for the excesses of the defunct Central Bank, the road for the bank to claim damages is now clear, giving it also some vindication.

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But, I believe, having ardently followed this case of a bank closed by a dictatorship and seeking full vindication, Bobby Aguirre, son of the founder, who now has full stewardship of the bank, seeking its place among banks like it had before, its full vindication can come only after its claim for P18.8-billion damages is paid.

Santa Banana, I must give it to the bank and Bobby Aguirre who, patiently for over two decades, sought full vindication, believing in the full majesty of the law and justice, are now seeing a light at the long tunnel.

As the bank lawyer, former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto Yasay stated: ?With this resolution [making BSP accountable to the excesses of the defunct CB]? the banking regulator can now move forward without being scared of its own shadow, and ensure that the quest for justice that Banco Filipino had long sought will now be found.? I can only say amen to that.

The case of Banco Filipino can only mean that if you believe in the long arm of the law and Madam Justice weighing the scales, soon enough, justice will prevail. As a lawyer myself, justice may have its excesses and failures, but the rule of law at the end will stand the test of time.

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There he goes again. I?m referring to Senator Ping Lacson going on a fishing expedition to link First Gentleman Mike Arroyo to a blacklisted contractor of the World Bank allegedly participating in rigged biddings to the detriment of the government.

In a Senate hearing, Ping came out with the 2002 appointment ledger that said the First Gentleman met with the blacklisted contractor more than 20 times. The ledger was furnished to him by a dismissed employee of the First Gentleman.

But what does that prove? Does it prove in any way that the FG participated in the rigged biddings? My gulay, that?s not even a circumstantial evidence under the law, unless corroborated.

Of course, there are those who peddle the canard that the contractor went to the office of the First Gentleman, and by accident P70 million in cash spilled over. Santa Banana, it?s the height of stupidity for anyone to bring cash to the office of Atty. Arroyo! An alleged bribe money can always be wired to a secret account here or abroad.

But, as I said, this being an election year, and Lacson obviously is seeking media mileage as a presidential hopeful, anything goes. If they can?t concoct a canard against the President, they?ll peddle anything on her husband. My gulay, Mike Arroyo is always the flavor of the month for those salivating for media mileage!

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There are over a thousand clinically diagnosed schizophrenics in the workforce today. Schizophrenia is some kind of dementia or mental problem resulting in the inability to cope with the environment.

But before you start checking your colleagues? desks and purses for little orange vials of medication to confirm your suspicions, read this: schizophrenics receive a form of therapy that is making its mark on the disability sector in Southeast Asia, care of the Christian Blind Mission.

CBM is one of the world?s largest non-governmental organizations that tend to the rights and needs of the disability sector. Note, however, that disability does not just indicate those who cannot walk, talk, hear or see. Mental and neurological impairments also cause people to be disabled. Even age, if taken seriously, can be a deterrent to living a full life. CBM has been working over the past seven years to help and rehabilitate more and more persons with mental and neurological disabilities.

The therapy that CBM provides is tri-fold, as it encompasses simple medication and group therapy. There is a fair amount of familial support?which is indispensable to a culture such as ours, as well as attention paid to livelihood development. This therapy is part of community-based rehabilitation, which is an effort to bring the disability sector into a more productive, participatory and contributing way of living in coexistence with normative society.

CBM does not fight for and in behalf of the disability sector. To fight for and in behalf of someone or something takes them out of the fight.

CBM doesn?t do the dirty work so that the disabled can reap the benefits. The disabled themselves insist on participating in society, and CBM fully supports them.

If you remember your political science, you would know that man is a social animal. Aristotle said that whoever cannot live within the confines of society, or has no need to because of his own abundance, is a beast or a god, respectively.

The fact that the disabled are searching for association, not just among themselves but with others, underscores the fact that so many of us tend to forget that they, too, are people like you and me.