Illusions and
Elections
By Mong Palatino
Good things seem
to happen during election season in this country.
We have not yet
received any news of oil price hikes. It was even lowered by oil companies
at the request of the government. The prices of basic commodities
have remained the same during the entire campaign period. Some of
the jobless now find themselves employed by politicos in their campaign
sorties. No demolition in the urban poor areas. No increases in school
fees. And the government is back in the negotiating table to talk
about peace. Who said our leaders are not capable of doing many good
deeds at the same time?
The ordinary folks
have the rare chance to meet again the incumbent and the aspiring
leaders of our land. The people could freely air their grievances
to our attentive officials. This is also the time our leaders attempt
to provide real government service to the nation: numerous projects
abound like asphalting of roads, street lightings, new bridges, school
buildings, donations of ambulances, fire trucks, murang karne for
the masa, among others projects. Our people are incessantly reminded
by our leaders that they spearheaded these projects as if they financed
these undertakings from their private pockets.
With passion that
can be gleamed from their eyes, our great leaders have consistently
voiced out their concern on many issues directly affecting the people.
A senatorial candidate for example decried the low wages for the workers.
Yet we did not hear from him when the workers were demanding salary
increases in the streets just a few months ago. Another senatorial
candidate is pushing for a free tertiary education while another is
articulating his concern for the consumers as he cited high electricity
rates. A candidate for mayor insists he is not a trapo and vows to
bring new politics in the city once elected to power.
The politicians'
faces are everywhere, promising heaven and earth to the people. They
portray themselves as the savior of the land and the answer to the
suffering of the masses. They are pro-poor, pro-God and pro-life.
They are out to put an end to bad governance, corruption, drug trafficking,
and other crimes in this country. Who the devil in this world would
not vote for a person who seems incapable of committing evil works?
Yes, good things
seem to happen during elections. But the reality is that it is a short-lived
experience every election season. A closer scrutiny of our situation
would reveal the bankruptcy of these "good things" and the hollowness
of the promises our politicians are harping about. All these are just
a ploy employed by politicians to deceive the people and court them
for their votes. There is nothing to celebrate when oil price hikes
would be imposed immediately after the elections. Those employed today
by our politicians would soon find themselves again among the growing
number of unemployed. Definitely, it is not a good thing if all these
happen only during election time.
The truth is,
the election is a myth that persisted for almost a hundred years and
remains so in the Philippine politics. It has succeeded in making
the people believe that it is the only democratic process needed to
bring about prosperity in this country. We have been doing this political
exercise for so long and we have not yet seen the empowerment of the
majority of our people in the affairs of our state other than casting
our votes in the polling place.
The sad story
is that while we have demonstrated our faith and dependency on this
process to uplift our poor conditions, we have seen our leaders abuse
the power we have entrusted to them and use it for their personal
enrichment. Thus, the necessity of doing good things every election
season to make people continue believing in the process that has seen
the few elite monopolize the power for their own and excluded the
poor majority from clinching a representation that can be truly said
as their own voice in the government.
If there is one
good thing to celebrate in this coming election, it is the party-list
system, which is envisioned to bring about proportional representation
in the Lower House that is traditionally dominated by the landed gentry
and wealthy families. It is a step forward towards a politics that
is based on principles and not merely on personalities. It is a way
of giving voice to the marginalized sectors that also has the right
to be heard in the halls of Congress. We all hope—and we must all
see to it—that this progressive system would never turn into something
the people would later discard for being useless—just like the good
old things our politicians are selling to the people.
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Mong Palatino
is the spokesperson of Bayan Muna-Youth. He is also the executive
vice president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines
and the outgoing chair of the UP Diliman Student Council.
