A show of moral strength by Cocofed

I had a friendly conversation with a person possessed with a good understanding of the activities of the party list Cocofed. Ours was a lively exchange of ideas. After all, we started our talk on rural banking, a topic of our common interest. Working on the philosophy that it is better to teach a fisherman to fish rather than give him fish, this gentleman from Cocofed mentioned, with infectious enthusiasm, such matters as financing the credit needs of small time farmers and fishermen. His eyes reflected a touching degree of concern on the plight of our less financially endowed brothers. To him, they, having been taken for granted by the government, could be better served by the private sector, specially the rural banks.

Then, we saw the election propaganda of Bayan Muna and Anad. Ironically, they were placed side by side on a non-poster area as if they were on a state of peaceful co-existence. Our discussion veered eventually to politics.

The Cocofed man spoke of the great political strides reached by his party. For the very purpose of advancing the interests of the tillers of our land who had long been deprived of government support, Cocofed formulated relevant action plans, all farmer-based. Naturally, the other groups of similar interests throughout the country were magnetized. To make sure that their collective voice be heard in the halls of congress, they formed a common and united front to push the Cocofed as a party list.

There was a moment though when this Cocofed personality paused and bit his lips. It was an unbelievably long pause but because I knew of his profundity, his silent interlude surely was not occasioned by loss of words. As he looked to a distant horizon, the wrinkle on his forehead deepened. There was a mark of alarm etched on his face.

Before I could not divine the message behind the twinge of his face, he let me in on a harrowing attempt to manipulate the Cocofed. The story he unfolded could only be conceived by shameless politicians and greedy administrators.

The administration of Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo saw the inroads gained by Cocofed. There was no denying that the formation of a spirited effort to push the party list poised Cocofed to grab a seat, if not three, in the next congress. Cocofed obtained the commitment of some 900 plus other organizations in the country and to them, massing 1,000,000 votes would not be a difficult task. If, the current equation in the voting proportion would place one party list nominee in congress with about 260,000 votes, the commitment received by Cocofed would allow it to enthrone three nominees.

With that datum possibly in mind, someone from the Arroyo administration approached the Cocofed hierarchy. He had a totally shameless proposal one which could not be entirely incompatible with the devious "Hello Garci" tale. As the shocking plan unveiled, it appeared that the president wanted to replace Atty. Domingo Espina, the number one nominee of the Cocofed with one of her own.

In my understanding, Atty. Espina, comes from Southern Leyte. The proposed replacement, a retired military man whom the cause oriented groups believed to be the brains behind the unsolved cases of extra-judicial killings, was to be projected as also coming from that province. Indeed, it would not be difficult to find the Palparans in the Municipality of Malitbog. Given adroit news management, the replacement, if it only materialized, could be glossed over.

It was to the credit of the Cocofed officialdom that they averted the Machiavellian move. That could have been a form of cheating in a character not unlike what many perceived to have taken place in the 2004 polls. I was delighted to hear that the Cocofed principle of serving the needs of this sector stood in the way. The officials of this party list could not sacrifice the interests of their members in favor the greed of the administration. Without their knowing it, their action, to me, was most inspiring that I have considered the idea of putting this Cocofed party list on my ballot come election day.