Benhur Abalos and the One-Year Ban: When the Law Makes the Nation Wait

*Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD, DM

Every election leaves behind more than winners and losers. When the campaign posters are torn down and the noise of politics finally fades, what remains is a quiet but unsettling question: did we truly choose the best people to lead us? I have found myself returning to this question often, especially when I reflect on the one-year election ban and how it affects individuals who may have lost at the polls but never lost their capacity—or willingness—to serve the country.

The one-year ban has a clear legal and moral rationale. It exists to prevent the abuse of public office, to draw a firm line between governance and politics, and to respect the outcome of elections. In theory, it protects democratic institutions. But in reality, it also creates an unintended consequence: it compels the nation to wait, even when the nation can no longer afford the luxury of time.

Not all who lose an election are rejected by the people. Sometimes, the loss is not a verdict on integrity or competence but a reflection of timing. The electorate may not yet be ready for certain ideas, reforms, or ways of thinking. And if we are to be brutally honest, Philippine elections are not always contests of merit. Many voters still choose based on popularity, political machinery, or name recall, while capable and principled candidates are left behind.

This is where the one-year ban on appointments of losing candidates in the recent elections becomes painfully ironic. Those who are most ready to work, to reform, and to confront corruption are forced to step aside—not because they are unfit, but because they dared to run and failed to win.

Secretary Benhur Abalos is one such case.

He did not prevail in the 2025 senatorial election, having not been endorsed by a big influential group. By the strict arithmetic of democracy, that is the end of the electoral story. But governance is not mathematics alone. It is about experience, resolve, and the courage to confront entrenched wrongdoing. Benhur Abalos has already shown, through his previous public service such as being mayor and congressman of Mandaluyong City, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), that he possesses these qualities. His electoral defeat did not erase his competence, nor did it diminish his readiness to serve.

Yet today, because of the one-year ban, he remains a private citizen.

I find this deeply troubling—not because elections should be disregarded, but because the country itself bears the cost of this enforced pause. At a time when corruption remains systemic, when institutions are strained, and when public trust is fragile, we are sidelining people who are willing to stand firm against abuse of power. The law does not distinguish between the unworthy and the capable. It is blunt, impartial, and, at times, indifferent to urgency.

One might argue that this is simply the price of the rule of law. Perhaps it is. But laws are not sacred simply because they exist; they must also be examined in light of their real-world consequences. When a rule designed to protect democracy ends up depriving the nation of effective leadership at a critical moment, then it deserves sober and honest reflection.

Benhur Abalos may not have been chosen by the electorate at that specific moment, but that does not mean the country no longer needs him. History teaches us that many leaders are rejected first—not because they are wrong, but because society is not yet ready for their kind of firmness, discipline, or reformist vision. Sometimes the people are not yet ready for a leader—but the nation already is.

And this is where the one-year ban begins to feel less like protection and more like punishment—not of the candidate, but of the country itself. At a time when corruption remains entrenched, when courage in public office is rare, and when integrity is often louder in defeat than in victory, we find ourselves forced to wait. Waiting not because there is no one willing to serve, but because the law tells us that service must be postponed.

Today, we badly need Benhur Abalos. We need leaders who have already shown the will to confront wrongdoing, to stand their ground, and to act without fear or favor. Yet he remains on the sidelines—not because he is unqualified, not because he is unworthy, but because he ran, lost, and must now wait.

So the question that lingers is not whether Benhur Abalos is ready to serve. The question is whether the country can afford to wait one more year before allowing someone like him to step forward.

And in the middle of corruption, uncertainty, and a nation yearning for real change, the most painful question of all remains unanswered:

We badly need Benhur Abalos now—but can we afford to keep waiting?

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*About the author:

Dr. Rodolfo “John” Ortiz Teope is a distinguished Filipino academic, public intellectual, and advocate for civic education and public safety, whose work spans local academies and international security circles. With a career rooted in teaching, research, policy, and public engagement, he bridges theory and practice by making meaningful contributions to academic discourse, civic education, and public policy. Dr. Teope is widely respected for his critical scholarship in education, management, economics, doctrine development, and public safety; his grassroots involvement in government and non-government organizations; his influential media presence promoting democratic values and civic consciousness; and his ethical leadership grounded in Filipino nationalism and public service. As a true public intellectual, he exemplifies how research, advocacy, governance, and education can work together in pursuit of the nation’s moral and civic mission.

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Closing the Faucet of Crime: The Mission of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission

  *Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD, DM

The solution to crime is a long and painstaking process. As long as we fail to close the faucet of crime, it will continue to flow—on our streets, in our communities, in our cities, and even within our government.

Crime persists because only a few people actually control it—those who organize it, the ones behind what we call organized crime. Unless we close the faucet operated by these organized criminal syndicates that run and spread criminality in our society, crime will never stop.

You may arrest many addicts, pushers, or killers, but as long as the faucet remains open—unchecked and unclosed—crime will continue to flow endlessly. Crime in drugs, crime in kidnap-for-ransom, and even crime in corruption.

We must shut off that faucet—and that is now the task entrusted to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

When we speak of organized crime, this is not ordinary crime. It is systemic; it is the faucet that spreads the “water” of crime throughout our society. These are the people at the top—the ones who control those below, who execute and multiply criminal activity.

Organized crime is very difficult to combat, and this is now the mandate of the new Executive Director of the PAOCC, former PNP Chief General Benjamin Acorda Jr. Fighting organized crime, organized syndicates, and organized networks of corruption demands dedication and unity.

To succeed, General Acorda will need the full support of all government agencies under the Commission — the PNP, NBI, PDEA, and others that comprise the PAOCC.

My friends, if you can close the faucet of supply, then no matter how many users there are, they will have nothing to buy if no one can sell. If General Acorda and his team can capture and dismantle the syndicates spreading this criminal trade, that would dry up the flow of crime at its source.

You might ask, “But the PDEA and the PNP already exist—why do we still need the PAOCC?”

The answer is simple: because of the magnitude and complexity of the problem, the government needs an agency specifically focused on organized crime. The PAOCC is not a competitor to existing agencies—it is a unifying body that brings them together to jointly address the roots of criminal syndicates.

Through shared intelligence, joint operations, and synchronized enforcement, these agencies will cooperate to close the faucet of crime in our society.

This includes not only drug crimes but also murder, rape, financial crimes, illegal recruitment, and environmental offenses. Many people think crime is only what happens on the streets, but there are also white-collar crimes—election manipulation, presidential appointments for sale, government transaction fixing, game-fixing in sports betting, pyramiding scams, citizenship for sale, money laundering, business fraud, environmental destruction, illegal gambling, and eco-terrorism—that also bleed the nation.

While the police and other agencies continue to fight crime through education, patrol, and arrests, the PAOCC must focus on the organized roots of these problems—the pipelines of power, profit, and corruption that sustain them.

Thus, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission carries an immense responsibility to help the country. If we, the people, support this mission—if we provide PAOCC with the resources, attention, and cooperation it needs—then perhaps we can finally close those faucets of crime.

And when that day comes, we may finally see a Philippines where the flow of criminality has been stopped at its very source—where crime no longer runs freely in our nation because its faucet has at last been shut tight.

_____

 *About the author:

Dr. Rodolfo “John” Ortiz Teope is a distinguished Filipino academic, public intellectual, and advocate for civic education and public safety, whose work spans local academies and international security circles. With a career rooted in teaching, research, policy, and public engagement, he bridges theory and practice by making meaningful contributions to academic discourse, civic education, and public policy. Dr. Teope is widely respected for his critical scholarship in education, management, economics, doctrine development, and public safety; his grassroots involvement in government and non-government organizations; his influential media presence promoting democratic values and civic consciousness; and his ethical leadership grounded in Filipino nationalism and public service. As a true public intellectual, he exemplifies how research, advocacy, governance, and education can work together in pursuit of the nation’s moral and civic mission.

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