Wanted: Datu

The upcoming elections are hard to ignore. I watch TV and see the ads of the presidential and vice presidential candidates. Senator Noynoy Aquino promises that he will not steal. Senator Mar Roxas discusses the health of senior citizens. Senator Loren Legarda’s hair flutters in the wind.

I get stuck in traffic and see buses plastered with the faces of former Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. I surf the Internet and see Senator Manny Villar’s ads. Whether or not the candidates’ ads have successfully convinced voters to pick them is still not clear. What is clear is that most voters do not know what the job description of a president is.

I rode a cab and asked the driver who he was voting for as president.   He said he was not interested to vote and has not voted since 1998. 

“Why?” I asked.

“It is useless. All the presidents after President Ferdinand Marcos were terrible,” he added.

“Why do you say that?” I asked further.

“During Marcos’ time, I had a regular job and was able to feed my family. Now, I drive the whole day and I’m not sure if I make enough to pay the taxi’s rent.   Erap was okay, too but he was kicked out.”

“Why do you say that Erap was okay?” I queried.

“He got rid of the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.

“There’s a lot of them left behind,” I pointed out.

“They are new members, not the ones Erap got rid of. It’s all Gloria Arroyo’s fault,” he said confidently. 

“What do you think of the corruption charges against Marcos and Erap?” I continued asking.

“At least in their time, only the presidents were corrupt. Now with Gloria, everyone steals, even the barangay captains,” he said with conviction. 

From the taxi driver’s description, a president is someone who provides jobs and has terrorists killed. It is also okay for them to be corrupt so long as those under them are not. 

The way one ad of Sen. Manny Villar is presented, it would seem that he wants voters to continue thinking of a president in a similar manner: As a person who rescues OFWs abroad, plants trees, and provides houses, jobs, and scholarships. In short, the president is the patron or benefactor upon whose generosity and protection the people can rely upon.

    “It’s the datu mentality,” my friend who teaches history theorizes. Most Filipinos see their political leaders as people who will provide their basic needs and protect them from their enemies. The datu is also a businessman and there is no distinction between his resources and that of the “government” because he is the government. There is no concept of corruption as the datu is free to use the resources as he pleases.

I suspect that my friend is correct. Maybe we continue to set ourselves up for failure with every election because our expectations of our leaders are not consistent with what our laws say their jobs are. Our current form of government may not be appropriate for us. After all, it is an imposition of our American colonizers. Maybe we still haven’t grasped the idea of a nation and prefer to be members of smaller communities with leaders who ensure that our basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are met in exchange for our loyalty. Maybe we should be picking a datu and not a president.