This commentary was originally published at Philippine Online Chronicle‘s Blog Watch special section on the upcoming 2010 national elections.
I take offense when some individuals insist that the Filipino people deserve the corrupt government and the inept public officials they elect. In light of the recent calamities that struck the nation, some people have the gall to gag people from blaming their government. It is insulting. Nakakaawa na nga ang sitwasyon ng masa, sinisisi pa sila. Pinning the blame on the people is the kind of mentality that lets crooks in government get away with corruption and ineptitude. In other words, it’s a scapegoat. It’s unfortunate that some people buy it and promote it without shame.
Truly, the Filipino people do not deserve being bled dry by their inutile government. The Filipino people do not deserve being denied of adequate social services. True, it is the people who elect the politicians. But the claim on the direct relationship totally disregards the prevailing conditions of the democratic system in the Philippines, and in many places in the world for that matter.
All along, it’s akin to providing a sick man with heart disease only establishments in a fastfood-exclusive food court to choose from for his meals. (Reminds me of a government hospital along East Avenue). He cannot be faulted for choosing a Big Mac or a two piece ChickenJoy meal–the system denies him any alternative, else he induce famish upon himself. It may answer his immediate needs from hunger, but the fact is, any choice he makes in the food court will eventually harm him, some faster and more harmful than others, and will even profit and make money from his plight. What can he do? These choices, and the entire food court establishment is maintained by well-oiled machineries of propaganda and intense commercial advertising campaigns which make the establishment and the choices look very appealing–enough to induce one to consume and feel fulfillment from the consumptions, without providing the consumer, or in this case the sick man, with the space to realize the long-term effects.
True enough, once in a while, small-time concessionaires offering healthier alternatives (so-called “reform candidates” or “progressive parties”) attempt to break through the establishment, but soon many of them will be gobbled up and be defeated by the intense advertising and the collusion among the big established names. As with real life mom and pop shops, they will never defeat the big commercial players within the establishment and with the set of rules implemented by the ruling order. It was never a level playing field. They deserve our all-out support, yes, but realistically, they are at best the mom and pop shops that they are–a minority, some more privileged than others. They perform the functions of offering alternatives and exposing the inadequacies of the establishment and the prevailing conditions, but their chances of completely defeating the ruling order in their own game is next to nil.
Sometimes, fastfood institutions introduce new products, akin to political families offering their younger generations as political new-breeds. Borrowing a similar analogy offered by Kabataan Rep. Mong Palatino, there will be burgers with low cholesterol, onion fries and diet coke the same way there will be Harvard-educated warlords, environmentalist landlords and god-fearing businessmen. There will be times when our healthy garden salads will defeat the burgers, fries and coke. But while we may be enjoying our garden salad for lunch, majority of our people will still be feasting on burger, fries and coke. It’s not their fault. The establishment will consciously and continuously deny them healthier alternatives in order to preserve their command and leadership.
The sick man has to realize that for him to get the real alternatives he deserves (or for the Filipino people to get the economic and social justice they deserve), he must assert it rightfully within the system, or if he has been so frustrated and disillusioned, abandon it and pursue collective action to defeat the prevailing order altogether.
In the final analysis, the alternative is definitely not in the mainstream establishment. It is an institution run by, with rules in favor of those in power. We must remember that the democratic venue for change is never confined to the elections alone.
law student, national democracy activist, film school graduate, photography hobbyist
I’m one of the strongest voices delivering the message that Filipinos deserve their politicians. After all, the Philippines is a democracy and supposedly is governed on the basis of “the people’s mandate” (whatever that means).
Take Noynoy Aquino. He is the most popular presidential candidate at the moment. Most people take this as an excuse to forego any ‘debate’ on the basis of issues and platforms. Why? Because Noynoy embodies the traditional reality that elections are not won on the basis of platforms and issues.
HOWEVER, I am not necessarily anti-Noynoy. what I am against is how voters seem to think that their role in a democracy ends after they’ve decided on who to vote for.
I beg to differ to that traditional thinking.
I believe that our real role as voters BEGINS when we have chosen our candidate. And for those who have chosen Noynoy, the task of DEMANDING results from him begins. The FIRST STEP in ensuring that Noynoy delivers results is to ensure that he presents us with his PLAN – a plan that answers these questions:
How exactly does he plan to govern us?
How does he envision the Philippines in 2016 as compared to the Philippines of 2010?
What are the specific PLANNED outcomes that we might expect to see after the second Aquino administration?
How does he PLAN to deliver said outcomes?
These are questions we have so far failed to ask Noynoy in a PUBLIC FORUM. We need to raise the bar that represents the way we engage our politicians. We need to ask questions that cannot be answered by mere platitudes and motherhood statements.
As with any real democracy, power resides with the people. But then the NATURE of said power also depends on the NATURE of the way people choose to wield said power.