GMA CDA RPI NMI

I learned partisan politics and the conduct of democratic elections, Pee Eye style, at an early age. In eight grade, I lived with a maternal uncle who ran for a congressional seat being vacated by a young legislator vying for a seat in the Philippine Senate. Both would be elected. The senator would go on to become President of the Republic. The Congressman would earn a reputation as an accomplished Machiavellian agent whose services would be made available to the highest bidder. A measure of his success was evident when his clients included four major geopolitcal contenders in the region.

On this particular election, the day after the results were made known, the newly elected lawmaker took two of his campaign buses and went down capital town. He shopped till he dropped, from one store to another. All of the stores visited were foreign-owned, mostly Chinese with a spattering of south Asian Indian merchants and Middle Eastern traders. Everyone handed the young solon whatever he wanted, and though he went through the motions of offering payment, he knew it was going to be refused. I later learned that it was an honored tradition that was simply part of the business cycle. It was not about greed. The consumer goods were used to feed the throng of election supporters who came for job placement or recommendations; others got appreciation baskets for efforts rendered during the campaign. It worked out well. The merchants held the lawmaker to a favor, and passed on the cost of doing business to the consumers.

I learned eight critical bottlenecks to check when ensuring proper democratic procedures in a fair election. First, establish voter’s qualification. Second, register voter. Third, assign voter to a precinct. Fourth, ensure ballots are available on Election Day. Fifth, enable voters to vote. Sixth, collect and count votes. Seventh, report accurate count to Election Commission. Eight, disseminate unadulterated tally to the public in timely manner. These are also eight areas where a candidate can cheat on an election. These do not include vote buying, registering the dead, and padding the ballot box itself. From political wards on the Westside of Chicago to barangay voting booths in Cebu City, from the shores of Florida to the barrios of Manila, the practice of bending the rules on those eight bottlenecks is widespread and sophisticated. It seems that in gauging the pulse and the choice of the vox populi, all is fair in blab and the election bar!

The outcry on Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s alleged violation of item No. 8 during the last presidential elections is more than just sanctimonious. As a recent cartoon on this paper on an indicted CEO explained, the executive’s crime was that she was caught, or, to be technically accurate, was apparently caught with the smoking gun. The prevalence of cheating in Philippine elections is hardly the issue in question. Self-righteous pundits who claim that this is an ethical matter of which Filipinos are suddenly taking the high road, may just be secretly giggling for effectively pulling our legs. Or, are pleased with themselves for strategically positioning their pens for the goodwill of and easy access to the next administration.

There is no doubt in my mind that GMA is on the way out. Not whether or not, but when. GMA’s troubles are deeper than just the revelations of a few taped minutes of telephone conversation. The leadership structure in the Philippines is such that it does not matter who sits at the head table at Malacañang Palace. The fever of dissent, the clamor for perpetual change, the climate of despondency, the heat of discontent, hovers over the capital city as part of the landscape like the crown of smog that smothers the steel beams and concrete pillars of the city by the Pasig. For the city of Manila, and the government that seats there, mirrors the archaic and dysfunctional centralized colonial structure and system put in place by the Spaniards. To be sure, it is constantly modernized with current technology by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, abetted by the innovations and inventions of Japan, Korea, HK, Taiwan and Singapore, and targeted as the favored Mecca of every young-thinking Filipino who wishes to make his/her mark on the nation. But the fact that the center cannot hold remains.

Imagine a stretch of real estate from Seattle to San Diego, with almost half of the population of the United States living off a land area the size of Arizona. The land is mountainous with less than 20 percent arable land, half of which is owned by some 400 extended family structures. Lengthening life expectancy, unabated population growth with 40 percent living below the country’s poverty line. Saddled with a horrendous debt reduction burden, GMA did preside over a 3 to 6 percent economic growth in the last three years. Employment at 15 percent, agriculture at 35 percent, manufacturing and services at 50 percent, the economy survived the currency gyrations of 1998 through the remittances of contract workers around the globe, including those of the CNMI. But GMA might have incurred the ire of the power brokers on Roxas Blvd. when she equivocated over the country’s support of the U.S.’ incursion into the Iraqi oil fields.

But having a country where, if one were conducting business between L.A. and Tijuana, one has to use the communications and transport, commerce and trade gateways in San Francisco, one can understand the deep structural contradictions abiding in the RPI archipelago. Vestiges of previous colonial governments retain public service as the largest inefficient labor sector. Further, save for the four Metro areas of Manila, Cebu, Davao and General Santos, the capacity of the countryside to absorb massive capital investment is practically nil. When investments cannot be locally retained and rapidly circulate within a local economy, dependency on external forces only increases.

Into this stew, spice it with 11 duly registered volatile and contentious political parties, with an additional nine organized pressure groups, and one has a sure formula for periodic volcanic eruptions. Add a resurgent Muslim separatist movement gone into banditry, and a long enduring insurgency movement fueled by a failed agrarian reform effort, and a social cauldron seethes. Anyone who is not aware that many in the national police live on the earnings of jueteng (lottery), and that smugglers often are abetted by men in uniform, is on denial. Include a free press that delights in fanning controversies, and is liberal in slinging mud on the high and the mighty, and daily social tremors are of seismic proportions.

None of these, of course, relates to the NMI. After all, 15 percent of CDA loans are current, and presumably, the remaining 85 percent are at some stage of political negotiation for debt relief of some kind. We do not have too many incidences of public officials caught with their fingers on the public till, and those caught do find their way to penal confinement. Our responsible press hardly accentuate the negative, for our newspapers sell enlightenment rather than controversy. Right? Though numbering only 1 percent of the PI population, with less than 15 percent eligible to vote, we are nevertheless blessed with five contending parties for the gubernatorial office. We are also assured that the periodic ritual of musical chairs is somehow central in providing quality leadership in our executive offices.

PI and the NMI are 3,500 miles apart. Though the other day, I witnessed three burly gentlemen conduct a regulatory procedure at one of our local mom-and-pop stores. After enumerating what the establishment had and had not complied with, the foreign proprietor dutifully handed a hefty bag of pugua with all the trimmings and condiments to one of the officers. Duly noted, the officers must have registered in their minds. I did not witness any attempt to proffer payment. I said to myself, this is just a minor thing to chew on. Besides, I am sure this added cost to doing business is passed on to the consumer.