philippine elections 2010

on may 10, the filipino people will elect a new president. of course, president gloria macapagal-arroyo and her cronies don’t want it to happen. they’re hoping for a failure of elections that will enable them to hang on to power. the defense secretary himself has been floating that scenario as late as of last week with the revelation that two presidential candidates are wooing election officials, the military, and the national police in order to rig the elections on their behalf. he has so far refused to name names and to provide proof in support of his allegation, making one wonders if he’s just making it up. is this part of a sinister plot to undermine the electoral process? let’s wait and see.

the coming elections has been considered the most expensive in history. money is no object to the leading candidates. as the saying goes, the sky’s the limit. anyway, it’s considered a wise investment. once in power, it’ll surely come back many times over as day follows night.

can president gloria macapagal-arroyo serve as a role model to her successor? if she can help it, she wants to stay in power beyond her term even to the extent of amending the constitution to make it possible. it must be a real power trip to rule over 92 million subjects, eh? that’s more than the population of canada (34 million), england (62 million), france (65 million), germany (81 million), or any other european countries. besides, it has enriched her for all her troubles. it has made her a multi-billionaire right up there with the likes of the queen of england. generous to a fault, she has made her relatives and staunchest supporters wealthy beyond their dreams, too. well, that is gloria.

at the same time, her successor should ask at what cost to the nation? during her term, the philippines has become one of the most corrupt countries in the world. as i wrote in a previous post, she has run the country under a mafia-style patronage system that rewards loyalty and blind obedience above all else. under this scenario, those in power can do anything with impunity as long as they toe the administration line. anybody caught with his hand in the cookie jar can absolve himself just by taking his hand off. dissent is tolerated but never encouraged. whistleblowers find themselves whistling in the dark. they become heroes for a day and end up dead, missing, being sued, or losing their jobs and reputations.

whoever wins in the coming presidential elections will have his hands full as it will take several generations to undo the damage that the current administration has done. based on our experience with ferdinand marcos and gloria macapagal-arroyo, we don’t need the best qualified and most talented candidate to be our next president. what we need is an honest leader who won’t use the office for plunder and personal gain and has the political will to curb graft and corruption in all levels of government. given the enormous challenges that he faces, it’s unlikely that he will meet them all to our satisfaction. but nevertheless, we expect that he will keep the ship from sinking and set it on the right course. it’s the least he can do, everything else will be a bonus.

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