Retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. said Wednesday he was endorsing the presidential and vice presidential bids of Leni Robredo and Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, calling their tandem "the best ever" since 1957, when he first exercised his right to vote.
The 86-year-old, whose career in government spans four decades and 13 years of which were during the Marcos dictatorship, said he was "fully convinced" that most hardships Filipinos are facing are "primarily due to the incompetence, misconduct, dishonesty and greed of many of our elected leaders and appointed officials who deliberately forgot that the office they hold is a public trust."
The May 9 elections is a "rare opportunity" for Filipinos to learn from past mistakes and transform the country by choosing only the best and most qualified leaders, which for him are Robredo and Pangilinan, he said.
"Combined, of the candidates for President only Leni, and of the candidates for Vice President, only Kiko, possess the spiritual, intellectual, ethical moral, and social values and virtues demanded of an authentic public servant or servant-leader," Davide said of the tandem's experience in public office, calling their candidacies as "heaven-sent".
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Without naming the UniTeam Coalition of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. and Sara Duterte, the former chief magistrate referred in contrast to their candidacies as the "union of forces" of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., former President Gloria Arroyo, incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, and ousted President Joseph Estrada.
From November 1998 to December 2005, Davide assumed the leadership of the Supreme Court upon the nomination of Estrada.
Immediately after retirement he served as Senior Presidential Adviser on Electoral Reforms to Arroyo and later, as her Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York.
Davide's last stint in government was during the administration of late president Noynoy Aquino, when he was briefly appointed chairman of the Philippine Truth Commission of 2010, in charge of investigating graft and corruption issues in the country, especially during the Arroyo administration.
The commission was abolished a year later, after the Supreme Court declared its existence "unconstitutional".
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