Be ready to walk your talk

EACH candidate coming out to sow intrigue and assail the integrity of their rivals should take a step back and honestly assess if they are ready to walk their own talk.

Part of integrity is being ready, willing, and able to put yourself up for public and legal scrutiny, whether it is in facing up to corruption charges or in forthrightly answering questions relating to your qualification for office.

It is being transparent and honest about your personal and professional life. It is answering inquiries head on instead of dismissing every question or criticism as “black propaganda” or dodging the issues and whining instead about “dirty campaigning.”

Mar and Leni have received more than their fair share of unfair attacks these past few weeks. Everything from photoshopped pictures supposedly showing “epal” tarps along EDSA, to deliberate misquotes attached to memes circulated on social media, to five year old news stories rehashed as “current events,” to the filing of a CoC for President by a man named Manny “Mar” Roxas, to the unending barrage of unfounded accusations that Mar is behind everything from Duterte’s cancer rumors to Poe’s disqualification case to Binay’s legal problems.

But Mar and Leni haven’t whined, or complained, or screamed “black propaganda!” at the top of their lungs. Instead they have quietly, calmly, patiently answered every question, issued the necessary clarifications, and taken the appropriate steps to address each issue.

That is walking the talk when it comes to integrity.

As for the others, are they ready to claim the same? --Akbayan Party