The root of our current political woes
I submit that I have never been a big fan of Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay simply because he was a nobody before the EDSA Revolt, just like the Ampatuans were nobodies 30 years ago. But when this street parliamentarian became Makati City Mayor, 30 years later, he kept that position well within his family circles in as much as the Ampatuans controlled most of Maguindanao after the Dimaporos lost power.
I call this a Cory legacy wherein despite her clean image in coming on her own political power, she was too weak to see that the people that she brought into power became political liabilities in their own right and worse…they would never give up their political power, opting to give it to their siblings and keep the "wealth" within the family. This in my book is a legacy that was brought about by the EDSA Revolution of 1986.
You may ask… what is the root of this problem that has kept corrupt politicians in power? We call them political butterflies. Before the Marcoses installed Martial Law - when you lost political power - you lost everything. Here in Cebu we can find good examples by asking… whatever happened to the once powerful Zosa Family? Take a look at the Cuenco Family; their political stock has dwindled to one Cuenco. I'm sure that this also happened to once powerful families from all over the country.
But after the EDSA Revolt, while democracy was returned, however we dropped the traditional two party system in favor of a multi-party system and this is where all our political troubles began, simply because political parties were not developed by the politicians behind those parties because in the end the personalities behind the political parties wanted to be more popular than the party itself. It's called personality politics!
A good example is the United Nationalist Democratic Organization, the only political party that openly challenged the Marcos dictatorship, which is why then Sen. Salvador "Doy" Laurel sacrificed his own presidential ambitions and gave in to the housewife of Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. who ran for president under UNIDO. When she won as president under the UNIDO banner, there was no gratitude by then Pres. Cory Aquino. She instead opted to support other parties like the Lakas ng Bayan, a coalition of PDP-Laban, Lakas ng Bansa, and Liberal Party of various political wings. So despite winning against the Marcos dictatorship, UNIDO disappeared from the political landscape.
Another good example is the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, while it sounds like a real political party, however, in truth, it is the official party of former Pres. Joseph "Erap" Estrada who is now mayor of Manila. Erap is perhaps quintessential post EDSA politico who not only became president and lost it but bounced back to become mayor of Manila. Where is the PMP these days? While they have lost in the national level, they had enough clout to win the mayorship of Manila, or should I say, Erap still has that clout so he could always be in power as long as he lives!
This is the crux of our political woes in this country -- that no one really falls from power. When one loses his political power, all he needs to do is support the current ruling party, and chances are, his peers will accept him with open arms. This is true to Mayor Paz Radaza who has held Lapu-Lapu City for a long time now that even with her corruption issues, the Liberal Party still chose her to be the LP standard bearer rather than her opponent, businessman and anti-corruption crusader Efrain Pelaez, Jr.
I guess this is why Pres. Benigno Aquino III wanted to keep his predecessor former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in hospital arrest despite their weak evidence against her. Worse for her colleagues in Congress, Rep. Arroyo came up with the most number of bills filed and approved in the 16th Congress, like the Anti-Drunken Driving Act which is now a law. Shame on those other members of Congress who are always outside the Halls of Congress, which is why they are called "outstanding," they are out standing!
So how do we solve this national dilemma? There ought to be a law that if one leaves his own political party, he or she cannot join or be accepted by another political party for at least three years. This is one such way, but of course we Filipinos are a wily lot and surely someone will find a loophole somewhere to thwart this law.
Meanwhile it is quite interesting to learn that in the past year, VP Binay had been attacked by the lapdogs of Pres. Aquino, through Senators Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel Jr., Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, and the bull-headed and overly ambitious Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. Yet a Commission on Audit report came out in the news that these three characters spent the biggest amount totaling P1.587 billion from Jan.1 to Dec.31, 2014 including consultancy fees. What a waste of taxpayer's money by political brats or pots… calling the kettle black!
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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
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