Parochialism, Cronyism, Nepotism & Gangsterism in Philippine Politics

 

By: Joe Mauricio

 

We owe the Philippines’ political parties a great deal of gratitude. They keep the country’s democratic principles of election at local and national level elections. Political aides and voters volunteer for their respective candidates, they work phones/telecoms using the social media and other media, walking and knocking door to door, serving as backdrops for speeches and TV ads, pitching in P50 to P100 contributions, etc.

But the truth is, Philippine voters are easily deceived, and they tend to be kind to the conservative wing of Pinoy voters, many of whom have divisive social issues and are kind of nutty with all the talks about religious freedom. These folks, bless their hearts, do not comprehend the nuances of real politics. Don’t get me wrong, we would be lost without them. But the Philippines would be better off if everyone stayed in their own lanes. It has become clear that the country’s political parties are in open revolt against the incumbent administration. It’s like that they don’t understand the political rules, or something. They do not seem to get the fact that they are powerless to do anything until they win back the Palace (Malacanang, that is).

One thing is clear….they need to shrink the presidential field. If they don’t whittle down the options, voters could do just about anything. They must bring order to the process. Numbers of local and presidential candidates have filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COC). It’s just like the GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH’s grand opening, drums and bugles corps leading the parade.

Political parties have always engaged in relentless self-promotions. But the relationship between rhetorics and reality has become ever more tenuous, and the line separating is honest aspiration versus fabrication painter.

The Liberal Party of President Aquino has a tagline, “Partido ng Matuwid na Landas.” Isn’t this a little ambiguous or oxymoron? It’s like declaring the country as a cancer-free zone, a biological impossibility as a cell mutation is a regular part of the natural world. Same as Pinoy politicians, regardless what they portray, they will also mutate, to a little or larger corruption. Or, they will resort to some form of wrongdoings, like Senators Cayetano’s and Trillanes’ demolition job of the Binay family.

The bottomline: there must be substantial truth in what they are represneting, but some Philippine politicians carry this responsibility so clearly. Without it, the contradictions to the mission of the parties–however defined–are just too great. Every nation has a distinct political climate, made up of things, such as key domestic issues, national sentiments, and nature of elections and government. The people in general strongly admire the ideals of individual freedom, and distrusting of any government regulations. Although the Philippine election is generally fair, there are some notable exceptions, as politics is completely dominated by political parties and partisan divides.

The candidates promise the moon and the stars to the poor voters, but invariably end up enriching themselves and thos who are close to them once they win the election.

Philippine election is a real oxymoron in the country. Witness the phone conversation between the candidate and an election crony, “Hello, Mang Juan, hello candidate, uh, well, let’s make sure we top the opponent by at least a thousand votes. Bye.”

Corruption is so rooted in the culture that no one dares offer solutions for fear of failure. The “daang matuwid” slogan of the Liberal Party has some drawbacks. It was led to the pork barrel scam by mastermind Secretary of Budget & Management, Butch Abad, a loyalist of President Aquino.

Parochialism, cronyism, nepotism, and a little bit of gansterism, are the words that best describe the political climate of the Philippine politics. And, nothing has changed up to the 15th President of the Land. ##