INQUIRER.net Eleksyon 2007

Electoral revelations and goals

Inquirer

This electoral exercise has shown yet again how pathetic Philippine politics has become and how bereft we are of a sense of community, of the common good, of nationhood.

Greed for power and privilege -- which is evident among our putative national and local leaders -- drives the process. There’s not even a pretense of party loyalty or of adherence to party platform, just empty slogans and silly nicknames. Running for office seems nothing more than a quest for self-gratification or self-glorification. So the campaign takes on the aspect of the cockpit, the boxing ring, the billiard parlor or the lotto station.

Candidates who don’t have what it takes simply buy their way to the tally sheets, their handlers and supporters behaving like odds-makers placing bets.

In Cagayan de Oro City, moneyed supporters of both sides were said to have bet as much as half a million for their slate, while vote-buying ranged from P100 to P2,000 per voter.

But what can you expect when even the justice secretary offers to bribe barangay leaders with the promise of post-election payoff? The ballot has turned into a lotto ticket!

Worse, we saw how the “art” of vote-buying has been honed to perfection by hiring make-believe poll watchers and precinct coordinators. You want to corner the precinct votes? Simply recruit 50 to 70 “watchers.” Naturally, they’ll vote for you, as will their family and barkada -- and that’s enough to capture most of a precinct’s 200 votes.

Thus, the real winners are vested interests, dynasties and “political entrepreneurs”--people who gamble on campaigns in hopes of winning big, in cash and political influence. All because Filipinos vote as if they’re on a gaming table, they vote with their hunches, not with their aspirations for a better society. So goes good governance out the window.

The horror of it all is, only a few seem to see or care how this is driving our society toward disaster, closer to being a failed state. This is what happens when self-interest reigns.

Let’s face it: we are a long way from political maturity and true nationhood. There are not enough leaders who care, not enough Filipinos who appreciate freedom and its responsibilities, and too many who prefer to take shortcuts at the expense of everyone else -- which is what they do when they vote for wealthy demagogues, coup plotters, grandstanding spouses of celebrities and what-not. This is not the way to political maturity or solidarity. Irresponsible people create irresponsible governments.

Now that the brouhaha is over, let us brace ourselves for turbulence and unrest.

—MANUEL E. VALDEHUESA JR.,
convenor,
Task Force for Good Governance,
Cagayan de Oro City,
valdeman_esq@yahoo.com

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