She is a “Bible preacher, a mother of eight and grandmother of 26,” definitely not “a flirt and a nuisance candidate,” 75-year-old Norma Nueva told reporters at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Monday.
“I did not flirt with the chairman (of Comelec). We just had a pleasant conversation considering that I am a widow and he is a widower,” an irked Nueva said.
The widow appeared at the Comelec on the day the election body was scheduled to release the names of five more contenders eligible to join the 27 bets who earlier qualified for the senatorial race next year.
In a hearing two weeks ago, Nueva had tried to convince Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. that she was a legitimate senatorial candidate by claiming that she still had asim and anghang (indicating she still had it) and that she was “very much available and negotiable.”
“It will be an honor to have the chairman as my future,” Nueva had said during the Oct. 19 hearing. The brief exchange had Brillantes blushing and the people in the Comelec office laughing.
Strength, endurance
But Nueva was not amused. “It is not healthy for a Bible preacher like me [to flirt]. It’s a bad word,” said the former broadcaster over Church-run Radio Veritas.
“The meaning of my asim is strength and endurance…(it) does not mean kaalembungan (being a flirt),” she said, adding “I am a mother of eight and a grandmother of 26.”
Nueva said she should not be considered a nuisance candidate because she had a political party. She filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) but became a candidate of the Partido Manggagawa Magsasaka after learning that KBL president Jaime Opinion had withdrawn the party’s certification of nomination.
Brillantes said the Comelec could not change its rules that disallows candidates from submitting a second certification of nomination at the last minute.
“Even if you have a party, it doesn’t mean that you are not a nuisance candidate,” he told Nueva. “And you cannot change your first nomination. Whatever was attached to your (COC), that’s your nomination,” he said.
The Comelec named five more candidates for the Senate. They are businessman Ricardo Penson, Samson Alcantara of the Social Justice Society, the Democratic Party of the Philippines’ Christian Señeres, Baldomero Falcone and Greco Belgica. Jocelyn R. Uy