A taxi driver’s view

Other than the quantitative data in opinion polls that measure the public’s view of our current affairs, I always find verbatim responses to open ended survey questions (if any) interesting. The flavor of public sentiment is often lost in the numbers, but comes alive in a few lines of pure and unadulterated view of a person that could be indicative of how his demographic group may feel.

In my past life in corporate communications, I often find focus group discussions or FGDs with a trained facilitator very useful when used with reliable quantitative data. It is very educational to view what we call a FGD going on from behind a one way glass window.

Last Sunday, the former head of the National Statistical Coordination Board or NSCB, Jose Ramon Gatmaitan Albert, provided an insight into the sentiments of what some of us snootily call bobotantes. This anecdote he posted on Facebook shows they are far from that. Here it is.

I rode a taxi and asked the driver his views about 2016. He said he has not made up his mind, but he is leaning more for Grace Poe than Binay but definitely not Mar.

He said three things about Mar --- he does not like his wife. Mar has done nothing especially for the people of Mindanao and Mar was very callous to Yolanda victims.

I asked why he would consider Binay despite the allegations of corruption. He said Makati has been run well. There is discipline on the roads and services are delivered, but the corruption issue is disturbing.

I asked why he prefers Grace. He said Grace gives hope. She knows issues. She is new to politics and that’s a good thing. She has empathy for people who ride the MRT.

Most of the taxi drivers and barbers I talked with have similar views. They associate Mar with Korina and Korina with an incident regarding her helper.

Many of them are impressed with the way Binay has provided services, but they are shocked at the extent of corruption he is associated with.

The last one I rode said that unfortunately he, a taxi driver, will still be a taxi driver regardless of who wins. So he will vote whoever can give specific plans to improve everyone’s welfare.

I was very impressed with the way they articulate their views. (end of anecdote)

I thought Dr. Albert’s anecdote provides a good snapshot of what the masa is thinking and where their hearts and minds are. Since they constitute a majority of our voters, they will determine who our next president will be.

The other kind of anecdote I find interesting comes from Nathaniel von Einsiedel who claims to know Binay well. His view came through one of my e-groups. This anecdote is rather long, but excerpts are very revealing. Here goes…

The recent columns of Randy David and Sara Soliven de Guzman in the major dailies give us a pretty good picture of what a Binay presidency would be like — it will be a disaster.

I have known Jojo Binay personally since we were in college at UP Diliman. He was a fraternity brother of one of our neighbors in Area 1 where I grew up. He frequented our neighbor’s house and that’s how we got to know each other.

After college, it was in 1986 when I saw Binay again, when he was appointed by then President Cory Aquino as acting mayor of Makati and later on as governor of Metro Manila in a concurrent capacity. Because of my job at the Metro Manila Commission, I got to meet with Binay on a regular basis, often assisting him in his meetings with the Metro Manila mayors and senior officials of national agencies. On many occasions, I had to join him on early morning site inspections and even late evening meetings…

He has perfected the practice of looking you straight in the eye and lie without blinking an eyelash. His political ads project a lie. By claiming that he will do to the country what he did in Makati, he creates an expectation that is intended to mislead people.

Common public perception of Makati is that of a first world city — high rise offices and condos, glitzy malls, beautiful parks and myriad jobs. But that is Ayala’s Makati, covering only six of the city’s total of 33 barangays.

He makes people believe that he can transform the whole country into Ayala Makati’s likeness. He knows that is not true. He had no hand in Ayala Makati’s development, and he knows he cannot replicate this anywhere…

He wants to perpetuate people’s dependency on him, especially the poor. He doesn’t believe in genuine development that uplifts the living and working conditions of the poor. This is reflected in Makati’s dole-out approach to urban management, for example, its education and health programs.

His political ads project the message that this dole-out system can be replicated throughout the country. He knows that the only reason he can do that in Makati is because the city has the biggest revenue among LGUs, all due to the thousands of the biggest firms located in the Ayala part of the city.

His pro-poor actions are all for show. He actually loathes the poor. On a number of occasions when we were discussing in private the housing projects for the poor, he used the term “salaula” (Tagalog for “uncouth” or “uncivilized”) to describe them.

He has perfected the act of conveying his “concern” for the poor by, for example, setting aside time and a percentage of the city’s budget for the poor’s “KBL” — kasal (weddings), burol (wakes), and libing (burial). When we were planning the MACDA housing project, his approach to the issue of relocating the informal settlers was to pay them off without caring where they were to be resettled as long as they vacated the site.

When we proposed a massive workforce development program to include the poor in the productive milieu and benefit from the jobs available in the city, Binay turned it down, criticizing it as “small-time.” But he did not offer any alternative.

It was obvious that he did not want the poor to improve their economic well-being and status. He wants them to be perpetually beholden to and dependent on him, and therefore, under his complete control…

His management style is 101 percent patronage politics. There is absolutely nothing developmental in his system of management. He may have introduced some innovations, but these have been mainly for his and his family’s benefit rather than for the good of the people.

He criticizes the Aquino administration as being inept, lazy, and slow. But what has he done, as chairman of the Housing & Urban Development Coordinating Council for the past five years, to reduce the housing backlog?

What has he done in the barangays of Makati to address poverty? Are the living and working conditions in the poorer barangays any better than before he first became mayor in Makati in 2004, when incidence of poverty was higher than the national average?

Binay was not alarmed by this and, in fact, seemed to be pleased with it. Perhaps because it meant he could easily manipulate the poor. Today, after almost three decades under the Binays, Makati’s overall quality of life, especially in the 27 poorer barangays, isn’t much better. (end of anecdote) 

In the course of deciding who to vote, voters will have to go beyond the issues and into the personal records of the candidates. Nothing ought to be sacred. Everything ought to be open to public scrutiny if we are to vote intelligently.

I expect personal anecdotes of experiences with candidates (and their wives, husbands) will weigh heavily in voting decisions. And this is how it should be.

We have to go beyond the mirage the image makers are trying to conjure for their candidates. We have to examine every claim of accomplishment. We have to measure their ability or inclination to deliver on the promises being made.

Then, we must remember the Marcos dictatorship years. A candidate who wants no term limits and perpetuate political dynasties must have some dark motives lurking inside of him or her.

That is why I really took pause when Jojo Binay said: “Itong term limit na ito ’di talaga ako naniniwala d’yan. Kailangan one to sawa ’yan, hangga’t gusto ng tao. Kaya kung meron amendments sa Constitution, ipapaalis ko yung term limitation. Hangga’t maaari, iboto nang iboto.”

That statement on term limits and his position on political dynasties should make us very afraid of the future of democracy as we know it in this country.

It is early days for the 2016 campaign. The battle lines are just being drawn. We all just have to be alert and make sure our country will be in better hands after June 30 next year.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco.