LAKAS/CMD/KAMPI-A POLITICAL JUGGERNAUT?

LAKAS/CMD/KAMPI – A POLITICAL JUGGERNAUT??(BY DOMINADOR "JUN" CHIPECO,ANG KAPATIRAN PARTY MEMBER AND SENATORIAL ASPIRANT)

With Noynoy's recent declaration of his intent to run for President, the political season with all its high drama, passion and entertainment potential has begun. It’s the season of clever deceptions, of half truths, of media hype. It’s the season for raising anew Filipinos’ expectations based on the same trapos’ empty promises of change repeatedly made in the past decades;but season after season, the Filipinos are left high and dry, their expectations unmet. Now is the season to reflect, to ask ourselves the question we have long avoided asking: WHY HAVE WE AS A PEOPLE COME TO THIS STATE? HOW MUCH LONGER ARE WE GOING TO WAIT FOR REAL CHANGES TO TAKE PLACE IN OURSELVES AND IN GOVERNMENT?

In the past few days, tri-media have provided ample evidence of the systemic flaws in the way we choose the leaders to govern us. There’s the charismatic aura that descended like a royal mantle on the heir apparent Noynoy. There’s Mar Roxas all set for a make-over by his “upmanship” act of withdrawing in favor of Noynoy. There’s Erap Estrada once again claiming to be a casualty of history and hoping to clear his name by running again for President. There’s Manny Villar quietly celebrating his commanding lead in the poll surveys. There’s Noli de Castro still enjoying his dimming reputation as a broadcaster. There’s Bayani Fernando staking his presidential ambition on MMDA’s achievements. And there are the other presidential wannabees, all well known names whose images,whether true or false, have been created by exposure to media. And there are the Filipino voters who become unwitting victims of “name recall”, a euphemism for brainwashing. With very few exceptions led by Governors Padaca and Panlilio (and notably the young JC de los Reyes ,Olongapo City councilor and presidential standard bearer of the Ang Kapatiran Party) nearly all of our elected leaders and possibly all of our national leaders have spent mind blowing amounts of money on image building and refurbishing, orchestrated by top-drawer advertising firms. As the election campaign progresses to fever pitch, expect media to gobble up available space in print and airwaves glorifying the names of moneyed candidates. This begs the question:Why would so many candidates spend so much to land in jobs that pay so little in relation to their “investments”? Why would a sincere desire to honestly serve the public cost so much in money?

We as a people have relinquished to media, pollsters and image builders our discernment powers of selecting our leaders. Whether in laziness, despair or apathy, we have surrendered our right and abandoned our constitutional obligation to be politically engaged in the governance of our country by exercising our right of suffrage intelligently and wisely. All too easily, a majority of us has succumbed to constant media bombardments. And fall prey to “name recall”.

Up to this point, I have intentionally omitted mentioning the ruling coalition party Lakas/CMD/Kampi and its anointed candidate for President, Secretary Gilberto Teodoro. Because it deserves a special mention. Despite all the sound and fury directed at GMA, the political reality is her administration controls the government machinery and its vast resources that can deliver a potential knockout punch to a dismembered so-called opposition. The party’s campaign arsenal and bagful of tricks would make any candidate belonging to another party and hungry for power salivate with envy. Its standard bearer Mr. Teodoro is an independently wealthy person capable of spending his own money. The country’s political warlords consisting of governors, legislators, mayors, councilors and even the supposedly apolitical barangay officials, – the vast majority of them – have sworn their loyalties to the party. Expect money (infinite amounts of it) to be spent on its candidates starting today and lasting until May, 2010. More than any other political party belonging to old politics, this dominant Lakas/CMD/Kampi will saturate the voters with media propaganda, giveaways and “looking good” posturing. Money spent will artificially grow the GDP. But where are the platforms of the party? What are the ideals and values that will underpin the ambitions of their candidates? How are the people that vote them into power to measure their faithfulness to their party’s platforms and their declared personal values? Or is the party and its candidates just living up to the traditional roles of politicians perpetuating the cycle of money/politics that has stunted the growth of Filipinos’ political maturity and preserved the status quo of political patronage? ONE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION: IF THE INTENT OF THE CONSTITUTION IN PROVIDING FOR A ONE-TIME SIX-TERM TERM FOR THE PRESIDENT IS TO MAKE HIM/HER IMPERVIOUS TO POLITICAL AND PATRONAGE PRESSURES WHILE IN OFFICE, WHY IS THE INCUMBENT PRESIDENT SO ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS IN HER PARTY OF SELECTING HER SUCCESSOR?

The coalesced Lakas/CMD/Kampi party is a juggernaut that will attempt to sway the hearts and minds of voters in May, 2010. It will stage a roadshow of achievements in infrastructures, economy, education, etc…. and will refuse to answer the fundamental question of whether these so-called achievements obtained at a mind-boggling cost have in fact raised the Filipinos’ quality of life. If they have, then why is the Philippines lagging behind her neighboring countries in Asia which she used to dominate 50 years ago? The so-called opposition with its array of traditional politicians employing the same tactics that have enslaved the Filipino people for years will not present new hopes nor fresh winds of change that will shake things up and restore honest-to-goodness public service.

Unless our people take a moment and prayerfully reflect on the recent events that forebode of things to come by way of shaping our future as a nation, we will be held captives behind prison walls we ourselves have made.