Change?
As of 10 pm today, May 10, 2010, the "partial, unofficial" results reported by networks show Benigno Aquino III leading the presidential race, followed by former president Joseph Estrada, once ousted for plunder, judged guilty not by the Senate tasked to look into his alleged wrong doings (e.g. coddling family and favored friends, for instance) but by a popular uprising he refers to as a revolt of the rich and the few.
For vice president, Jejomar Binay leads. Coming into power as the late Pres. Cory Aquino's appointed officer-in-charge of Makati immeditalely after EDSA, Binay had since been running the city alternately with his wife for the past 20 years.
The 12 slots for the Senate are filled by actors and politicians whose names and faces had done the rounds once before, not all of whom did anything significant and meaningful towards the upliftment of the lives of the 90 million or so Filipinos in terms of laws that firmly put in place their rights and privileges, strengthen institutions and benefit society at large.
Change, "pagbabago", is the most used, most abused word throughout the campaign season. All candidates wore a badge that screamed "pagbabago!", short of having this badge enlarged such as to make it look like a speech bubble stuck to their heads wherever they went, in case anybody missed it.
Change! they screamed. Change from our current situation, they say, of widespread poverty and corruption. How that would be, however, was lost on many of them because it did not matter how change could be achieved. It mattered more that they said it the loudest, the most frequent, the angriest. "Change" became, to me, the promise that weighed the most, yet, little by little, transformed into the most hollow.
Change! For a Filipino public that they say has matured, grown tired of corruption. Change! For the Filipino hungry for new leadership! Change! Towards a path of a better tomorrow.
In the weeks before election day, surveys upon surveys showed that, for the Senatorial slots for instance, the popular names were constantly topping the lists; popular names of actors and scions of politicians who themselves were not [known to be] agents of change. Back then were glimmers of hope, however, albeit hidden in the pockets and linings of robes that, on the outside looked crisp and untainted but were actually reused or recycled rags sewn together haphazardly.
As election results are becoming apparent, the face of what will become the next Philippine government is slowly revealing itself as being too familiar for comfort. The surprise in all of this is not that our collective hopes for real change was to be realized promptly, with a little help from technology, but that the nightmares of the past we thought we had buried are coming together taking a life of its own.
Change? Wait, where are the agents of change? They're there, midway down in the list of candidates as voted by the "mature" Filipino voters hungry for a new leadership that will lead them to the path of a "better tomorrow". Yes, the "mature" Filipino voter slung by mud or thrown into the slime with the candidates throughout the campaign, no thanks to the power of media and its mouthpieces.
Anyway, who did they kid?
The "only" mature thing the Filipino voter did in the last 24 hours was to trust an unknown system, prepare their journey to the polls armed with a lot of patience and brave the unforgiving heat, some goons and a lot of glitches. For that, they, and all election volunteers and workers, are to be commended.
As of 10 pm today, May 10, 2010, the "partial, unofficial" results reported by networks show Benigno Aquino III leading the presidential race, followed by former president Joseph Estrada, once ousted for plunder, judged guilty not by the Senate tasked to look into his alleged wrong doings (e.g. coddling family and favored friends, for instance) but by a popular uprising he refers to as a revolt of the rich and the few.
For vice president, Jejomar Binay leads. Coming into power as the late Pres. Cory Aquino's appointed officer-in-charge of Makati immeditalely after EDSA, Binay had since been running the city alternately with his wife for the past 20 years.
The 12 slots for the Senate are filled by actors and politicians whose names and faces had done the rounds once before, not all of whom did anything significant and meaningful towards the upliftment of the lives of the 90 million or so Filipinos in terms of laws that firmly put in place their rights and privileges, strengthen institutions and benefit society at large.
Change, "pagbabago", is the most used, most abused word throughout the campaign season. All candidates wore a badge that screamed "pagbabago!", short of having this badge enlarged such as to make it look like a speech bubble stuck to their heads wherever they went, in case anybody missed it.
Change! they screamed. Change from our current situation, they say, of widespread poverty and corruption. How that would be, however, was lost on many of them because it did not matter how change could be achieved. It mattered more that they said it the loudest, the most frequent, the angriest. "Change" became, to me, the promise that weighed the most, yet, little by little, transformed into the most hollow.
Change! For a Filipino public that they say has matured, grown tired of corruption. Change! For the Filipino hungry for new leadership! Change! Towards a path of a better tomorrow.
In the weeks before election day, surveys upon surveys showed that, for the Senatorial slots for instance, the popular names were constantly topping the lists; popular names of actors and scions of politicians who themselves were not [known to be] agents of change. Back then were glimmers of hope, however, albeit hidden in the pockets and linings of robes that, on the outside looked crisp and untainted but were actually reused or recycled rags sewn together haphazardly.
As election results are becoming apparent, the face of what will become the next Philippine government is slowly revealing itself as being too familiar for comfort. The surprise in all of this is not that our collective hopes for real change was to be realized promptly, with a little help from technology, but that the nightmares of the past we thought we had buried are coming together taking a life of its own.
Change? Wait, where are the agents of change? They're there, midway down in the list of candidates as voted by the "mature" Filipino voters hungry for a new leadership that will lead them to the path of a "better tomorrow". Yes, the "mature" Filipino voter slung by mud or thrown into the slime with the candidates throughout the campaign, no thanks to the power of media and its mouthpieces.
Anyway, who did they kid?
The "only" mature thing the Filipino voter did in the last 24 hours was to trust an unknown system, prepare their journey to the polls armed with a lot of patience and brave the unforgiving heat, some goons and a lot of glitches. For that, they, and all election volunteers and workers, are to be commended.
 Just the second time in 4 elections since 1986 that my index finger was stained with indelible ink. Let's see how long it will stay. |
Tit for tat
I had always suspected that the "Villaroyo" propaganda came not from the LP body but from the Mar Roxas camp, specifically. Of course, this allegation cannot be proven because not one from the LP slate ever actually mouthed it in public. Instead, the propaganda emanated a lot from the programs, news shows and interviews of the media network identified with the Liberal Party (and with Mar Roxas specifically, by marriage, among other things)—ABS-CBN. So persistent was it that couldn't be missed by all the other media. It was reverse public psychology at best, considering how many of Aquino III's relatives are actually with the Arroyo government throughout the election period and how many more jumped over and into their backyard simply to hold on to power.
"Villaroyo" took its toll on the well-oiled campaign of Manny Villar so bad that when this propaganda succeeded, his survey ratings took a dive and never recovered towards election day. The "partial, unofficial" election results are showing that now.
"Villaroyo" took its toll on the well-oiled campaign of Manny Villar so bad that when this propaganda succeeded, his survey ratings took a dive and never recovered towards election day. The "partial, unofficial" election results are showing that now.
Fate—tit, rather—does turn in strange ways that it looks like Mar Roxas didn't see tat coming his way, as he and his company forgot to occasionally lift their blinders for fear of losing their target (I suspect they even slept with these on).
Dark Horse
And so the possibility of a dark horse emerging from this elections was floated about just a few days ago. Never did I realize that it would happen so literally. I guess neither did Roxas.
Declaration and the first 100 days
As it now looks like Aquino III will be declared winner not later than tomorrow, 11 May 2010—swift, huh?—the one thing I'd like to hear from him as he accepts victory is a declaration to relinquish the .02%-something pittance of a share (or shares) he owns in the Luisita holdings (and other such proprietary rights) for good or as long as he presides over state matters in Malacanang.
His first 100 days should start with putting together a committee to look into real land distribution to the Luisita farmers, and end it not a day longer with awarding of titles devoid of limitations or proviso as he was forced to declare during the campaign. If he can do this then all the goodwill will follow; he'd earn the respect of everyone and a place in history his mother once had the chance but passed up. He'd then be able to commit genuine respect and homage to all the tillers of the soil whose harvest, cultivated with their blood, sweat and tears, he and the rest of us partake of.
And so life goes on
...as if nothing happened. As if cries of corruption and incompetence in government did not cost us to nearly lose our values and self respect. As if the whole exercise of voting and choosing candidates we thought would help bring us to the next level (higher, not lower) was a grand event, a spectacle we shouldn't miss. Did the lure of novelty bring out the Filipino from unknown nooks and crevices on that very one day we hoped would be the start of a better future for all of us?
What will the next 6 years bring on? Did the 50 million Filipinos voters simply give up their future to clueless boxers, ham actors and celebrities, to oligarchs who have lived in comfort all their lives, to warlords and gambling aficionados whose ways are by the gun, to familiar names that provided not enlightenment but temporal entertainment?
Where was genuine maturity and disdain for "the old, 'trapo' ways"? Where did the pursuit for intelligent, focused and productive discussions, statesmanship and real public service go? Were we delusional? Were we lied to? Were we asleep, mesmerized?
Only the second time
Twenty-four hours since the first automated elections and my outlook is quickly reversed. My last vote was cast in favor of Cory Aquino in the snap elections of February 1986, back there in San Juan in the same polling precinct as Marcos loyalist and OIC-replaced San Juan mayor Joseph Estrada voted, goons in tow. How proud we all were of the moment of casting, even if it meant having to listen to single digit votes for our candidate during the canvassing after polls closed.
Back then, the other half of the population would rather put a dog in place (in Malacanang) if it ever ran against Marcos. Fortunately, Doy Laurel acceded, Cory Aquino relented and the dog spared. It seemed like an easy choice. I still don't think my vote then was wasted, although there were regrets to many of her policies and decisions afterwards, not least of which were the lack of resolve and firm actions towards reconciliation, genuine concern for the working class and the masses and countless missed opportunities that would benefit the future of Filipinos.
Well, my vote yesterday was not wasted, too, and, to be clear, it was not for Noynoy Aquino out of respect for his mother whom I voted for and once believed in. Still, he soon will stand as my president just as Ramos and Estrada were and Arroyo is.
However, while May 10, 2010 for me is a step forward in terms of making processes less labor intensive, less questionable, with lesser loss of lives (hopefully) and a little bit more trust for the unknown, it was also a hundred steps back into the past. So life goes on.
And so life goes on
...as if nothing happened. As if cries of corruption and incompetence in government did not cost us to nearly lose our values and self respect. As if the whole exercise of voting and choosing candidates we thought would help bring us to the next level (higher, not lower) was a grand event, a spectacle we shouldn't miss. Did the lure of novelty bring out the Filipino from unknown nooks and crevices on that very one day we hoped would be the start of a better future for all of us?
What will the next 6 years bring on? Did the 50 million Filipinos voters simply give up their future to clueless boxers, ham actors and celebrities, to oligarchs who have lived in comfort all their lives, to warlords and gambling aficionados whose ways are by the gun, to familiar names that provided not enlightenment but temporal entertainment?
Where was genuine maturity and disdain for "the old, 'trapo' ways"? Where did the pursuit for intelligent, focused and productive discussions, statesmanship and real public service go? Were we delusional? Were we lied to? Were we asleep, mesmerized?
Only the second time
Twenty-four hours since the first automated elections and my outlook is quickly reversed. My last vote was cast in favor of Cory Aquino in the snap elections of February 1986, back there in San Juan in the same polling precinct as Marcos loyalist and OIC-replaced San Juan mayor Joseph Estrada voted, goons in tow. How proud we all were of the moment of casting, even if it meant having to listen to single digit votes for our candidate during the canvassing after polls closed.
Back then, the other half of the population would rather put a dog in place (in Malacanang) if it ever ran against Marcos. Fortunately, Doy Laurel acceded, Cory Aquino relented and the dog spared. It seemed like an easy choice. I still don't think my vote then was wasted, although there were regrets to many of her policies and decisions afterwards, not least of which were the lack of resolve and firm actions towards reconciliation, genuine concern for the working class and the masses and countless missed opportunities that would benefit the future of Filipinos.
Well, my vote yesterday was not wasted, too, and, to be clear, it was not for Noynoy Aquino out of respect for his mother whom I voted for and once believed in. Still, he soon will stand as my president just as Ramos and Estrada were and Arroyo is.
However, while May 10, 2010 for me is a step forward in terms of making processes less labor intensive, less questionable, with lesser loss of lives (hopefully) and a little bit more trust for the unknown, it was also a hundred steps back into the past. So life goes on.
"Ever since I gained political consciousness, I have realized the Philippine voting history somehow does not give much hope.
ReplyDeleteThe tragic part is the Filipinos’ penchant for voting for a president based on popularity and emotions.
Noynoy has no record to show he can run the battered nation. He had three terms in Congress and one in Senate. All those years in public service were negligible. His overwhelming popularity is simply anchored on the emotional pull of his mother’s death.
Noynoy’s campaign slogan is “Kung walang kurap, walang mahirap" (If there is no corruption, there is no poverty). It’s a squeak in the wind. He forgets that the administration of her mother—despite her integirity and good intentions—was tainted by the influence-peddling of the infamous “Kamag-Anak, Inc.” (Relatives, Inc.)
Noynoy “is not a reasoned choice but a wishful thinking choice,” Filipino columnist Rene Azurin writes in the Business Mirror.
Without a doubt Mrs. Aquino was a hero. She was needed by the moment, at the time when no one else would stand up against the dictator. Millions are still enamored with the dead president and cannot let go of her memories. The Filipino masses are taking the liberty to pass on the hero crown from the mother to the son, just because we are hungry for a hero.
Such thirst for a paladin triggers a delusion that causes the wishful thinkers to squander their voting power. The Filipino people are perennial victims of empty political promises. When running for office, politicians will promise the moon and the stars but they develop Alzheimer’s disease once voted into office.
But we never learn."