Political campaigns have already started loud and clear – no
matter what the law provides, irrespective of the time and place of the
campaigns are staged. The unsaid truth is that it is Malacañang that is the
very first to engage in new partisan political alignments – silently and surreptitiously.
Everybody else is but following the preemptive move it made in the eagerly
awaited forthcoming combat in the political arena. The personal and/or
professional attributions of the aspirants for political offices are
irrelevant. Who you are, what you have and what can you do – these are what
really count!
In other words, what really matter are how much money and
power do the candidates have and wield respectively, what political dynasties
are behind them, and what influence do they exercise – with or without the use
of guns and goons. The ultimate intent is to win the elections – be these
computerized or manual, be the list of voters authentic or a big joke. Lying
during the political campaigns is a necessary practice; in the same way that
cheating in the elections is done as a matter of course. To win the elections
irrespective of the ways and means of doing it – this is standard practice.
Thus it is that Philippine politics – the way it has been
done long since and still being practiced these days is “…possibly the biggest
bane in our life as a nation and the most pernicious obstacle to our achieving
full human development.” This is clearly an indictment of politics in the
Philippines. And such a lamentable understanding is neither understanding is
neither but the perception of one dumb individual nor the awareness of a bunch
of ignoramuses, good for nothing and do-nothing bunch of people. It is the
official pronouncement of a group of organized individuals who are stationed
all over the land, who have their feet on the ground and who are in direct
contact with a big number of Filipinos in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Such an admittedly negative regard of Philippine Politics
was formally brought to fore in 1977. That is no less than more than three
decades ago when the Catholic Bishops’ Conference released its “Pastoral
Statement on Philippine Politics.” Today, it bears asking if anything
substantial has changed in the way politics is done in the Country. If millions
of Filipinos wallow in poverty and live in misery, is this phenomenon due to
the observance of exemplary politics in the Country, on account of the work of
upright Filipino politicians? More.
Is it true or false that the interests of the powerful and
few rich are pitied against those of the weak and the poor through political
peddling and influence? Is it true or false that a costly elaborate political
propaganda machine infallibly accompanies all wealthy and influential candidates
for public offices? Is it true or false that the political debts are paid by
those elected to public offices through appointments of their supporters to
juicy government positions? True or false?
