"I am not my father" is a familiar TV/movie trope, and people love a good redemption story. And then there's that phrase: "The apple does not fall far from the tree." If we forget for a moment that he is his father's son, how can we evaluate his character? After all, isn't that the only way we should select our political leaders?
When evaluating public companies and their leadership, we look at their accomplishments, their public actions, their behavior during earnings calls, or any public forum. We are not there day to day to observe their decision-making process, and so we have to trust that the leaders will do the right thing for the company whose shares we own.
It is the same for political leaders.
So, let's forget for a moment that he is his father's son. What has he accomplished? What is his observable behavior that will help build that trust?
He was educated in England and in the US. He lied about getting a political science degree. He lied about it when he was younger, before the Internet made it easy to email someone at Oxford and simply ask for the truth.
Looking at his website, and not having the easy access to the body of the house bills, the headlines of the house bills he has authored are mostly construction projects in his district. While I applaud him for trying to improve his district, everybody does that. There is nothing special there. And we know those projects are rife with corruption and kickbacks.
The only notable house resolution is the one relating to the Kalayaan Island Group. Oh, and he wants his father's remains to return and lie in state in Malacañang.
As governor of Ilocos Norte, all I can see are certificates of merit that are meaningless to me. They lack substance.
There is a section for speeches on his website, the latest one is dated 2016 as of this writing. There are a few YouTube videos out there, and in the one I watched, he still referenced his father.
My remaining question, forgetting again that he is his father's son, is what is his character? Because that is the only way to determine whether he is trustworthy enough to hold the highest office. We will disagree on some issues, but like an employee trusts their CEO to do the right thing, we must be able to trust political leaders to do the right thing.
And nothing tells me that he will do the right thing.
