To cut and cut clean

by: AMB. JOSE ROMERO JR., PH.D

In a dramatic show of independence my fellow Hoya (Alumnus of Georgetown University, heavily touted to be the standard bearer of the Danding Cojuangco sponsored political grouping, a.k.a the nationalist people’s coalition (NPC), resigned in a huff, following the footsteps of the nephew of the party’s capo de capi tutti. in today’s environment of money politics the act would be considered as political suicide. Ostensibly this desperate act was motivated by Chiz’s desire to free himself from the constraints of party dictation, in this particular case, lets face it ,the special interest of the NPC which can be equated with the particular interest of the San Miguel corporation and related interests. perhaps my friend Chiz has only realized that there is no such thing as a free meal in Philippine politics.

Now that Chiz has made the supreme sacrifice, he might as well go the whole hog and as senator laxalt once advised the great dictator, cut and cut clean. This means scraping the barnacles from his ship, throwing off all that baggage attached to his former mentor and start afresh by removing the stigma of having been a member of the “brat pack”, the group of young congressmen that tried to impeach Justice Davide from the Supreme Court at the bidding of their political patron.

By running as independent and winning, he will have achieved the heretofore impossible dream of becoming the first president unattached to the politically entrenched political elite, which has only succeeded in making this country a banana republic. If he succeeds in this glorious quest, he would be the political messiah that this country has prayed for. He will have slain the dragons of special interest groups that are bent on ruining the economy and exorcise the body politic of the demons of greed and graft.

Conversely, if my friend chooses the easier way out, the path of less resistance, he may still fulfill his dream of a higher office but go down in the annals of history as just another trapo who indulged in the game of money politics – the politics of personality rather than of principles. Of course the cynics will always say that to be a statesman one has to be a politician first, but who are those that have graduated from politics to statesmanship in the political history of this country?

Chiz belongs to the new generation of politicians who can make a difference and become the gamechangers.

They can be the young Turks that transformed turkey from a medieval into a modern and prosperous state and closer to home the leaders of the revolution against Spain who planted the seeds of Philippine independence, a seed has first to die for a plant to sprout. Indeed it took the blood of martyrs to establish Christianity in the world. The problem with our young politicians of the past, and many of these were quite competent, is that their overdriving ambition to join politics forced them into the arms of their unscrupulous handlers, the big bosses of our tammany halls, who only used them to perpetuate themselves in power. These are the political power brokers and dynasties who co-opt the best and the brightest among the aspiring politicians transforming them at the end of the day from wide-eyed idealists to hardnosed trapos.

Indeed politics today is big business and vice-versa.in the pursuit of the narrow-sectoral interest the political patrons have used political parties as vehicles to pursue their rentier activities and chosen ambitious young politicians who they hold on a short leash as instruments to advance these interests.

In these coming elections it is important for the electorate to examine not only the character, competence and commitment of the candidates but also the people that they will most likely bring to the palace, such as the recycled and rejected politicians and the crony capitalists of yore. Again, to repeat the old adage, tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are!

But going back to the 3 Cs, would you vote for a candidate who claims to be a Christian but refuse to be bound by church precepts? If the candidates cannot adhere to these, can they be expected to uphold the constitution? In the same vein if they cannot commit themselves to their marital vows can they be expected to be loyal to their constituents?

Finally if they would one day lambaste the government or their officials or for that matter any politician and then ally themselves with the same for convenience like a butterfly going from one flower to another, are these the kind of people worthy of people’s trust? What happened to principles, delicadeza and mental honesty?

There is a lot of dirty money going around to support our candidates. We refer to jueteng money, money from ill-gotten wealth, (the kind of money that the PCGG should have now confiscated and given back to the people), as well as “insurance” money coming from big business.

The candidates who will receive these will surely be compromised even before they step into the palace.

The tragedy in this country is that many of our officialdom have already been bought –the reason why the so-called political will is not there. So long as this is the situation prevails, taxes will not be collected, pending high profile cases involving prominent politicians and big businessmen will not be resolved, the all important agrarian reforms will not be pursued, PCGG cases will not be resolved, crony capitalism will continue to rear its ugly head and economic development will continue to take the back seat.

Is it any wonder therefore that the first democracy in Asia, a country that was only second to Japan in terms of development after the war and a country reputed to be blessed with rich natural and human resources continues to have the highest level of poverty among the emerging economies in this part of the world?

When confronted with this conundrum, politicians have found a convenient excuse – population growth. By the mere distribution of condoms and pills and resorting to tubal ligation the stubborn problem of poverty will quickly disappear. Is the problem really population or politics? If the former how come China, India, Russia, and Brazil with its large populations are growing faster than even the sparsely populated first world countries? Is this another conundrum?