Some laws are pipe dreams

A study by Nielsen Media Research Philippines has singled out three senatorial candidates - Prospero Pichay, Manny Villar and Ralph Recto - as having already spent tens of millions of pesos on tv ads alone.

As if on cue, the Commission on Elections promptly issued a reminder to all candidates to go slow on their election spending and to spend only within the limits set by the law. Frankly speaking it is a law that should not have seen the light of day in the first place.

It is a law that is practically useless, is only marginally enforceable, if at all, and grossly impractical. It is bad enough that it had to set limits on political expenditures, it is worse that it had to set the limits so ridiculously low.

According to the law, individual candidates of a party are allowed to spend only three pesos per voter. Parties themselves can spend a bit higher - five pesos per voter. But as anybody who knows the true value of the peso can see, this is both ridiculous and impractical.

Five pesos is virtually nothing. It is spit worthless. It cannot even pay for a jeepney ride over the minimum distance. Setting spending limits just cannot work if what is set by law cannot constantly keep pace with the ever frequent changes in the real value of the peso.

The three or five pesos that the law set as limits for individual and party electoral spending at the time the law went into effect are simply no longer the three or five pesos that the Comelec requires everyone to limit themselves to in the coming elections.

And just how enforceable is the law? If the Comelec can enforce the law on each and every candidate that ever runs in the May 2007 elections, then the law is enforceable. But if it can only go after a few individuals here and there, then it becomes selective and thus a failure.

On theory, the Comelec can probably scrutinize the expenditures of each and every candidate who runs in the elections because it has required a statement of expenditures from each of them, under pain of some sanctions that we seriously doubt could ever be carried out.

But a statement of expenditures is only a statement. It is not a confession before God. There is no way of knowing the veracity of the placement of a zero here or a comma there. In other words, if a candidate can lie to his wife, he sure as hell can lie to the Comelec.

Now, even if it wanted to, the Comelec is simply in no position to ferret out the truth. It simply has no way of knowing exactly how much money flows during elections. The Comelec must realize that when it comes to money, the real cost is always anybody's guess.

Let the Comelec commissioners try asking any of their friends about the real price of, say, a brand new suit. One, trying to impress, may jack the price a bit higher. Another, trying to be humble, will bring it lower.

Or maybe the commissioners can aim a little closer to home by asking their wives some cute little details about how much their latest shopping spree ate into the household budget. I am pretty sure, though, that is one thing they would rather not know.

As I have written previously, Philippine elections are simply not for those with shallow pockets. And while I admire the noble and chivalrous intent of the law in trying to level the playing field in the interest of democracy, it just does not apply to the reality on the ground.

There being no free rides in life, if you have to get anywhere, you have to pay the fare. The bigger amount you are willing to pay, the faster you will get there. And darn if you have no money because you walk.