Columns Reinventing the Philippines "Reinventing" Filipino Suffrage
| Columns > Reinventing the Philippines |
| "Reinventing" Filipino Suffrage |
Since it is election time in the Philippines. let us discuss the Filipino suffrage. Let us compare its history and practice to those of several countries. Perhaps we may be able to come up with a proposed template on how Overseas Filipinos, especially Filipino Americans, may be able to "reinvent" suffrage in the homeland. Perhaps we may be able to do changes for the better for the May 2010 (2-0-1-0) elections.
Here is my initial contribution--based on a manuscript that I began writing in 1998 (19-9-8). The manuscript is still not complete and, ergo, not published.
Part I of this series of articles about the Filipino Suffrage is taken from the manuscript called, "UNDERSTANDING THE FILIPINO MIND (Comparing the Filipino Character, Society and Way of Thinking with those of the Japanese and the Americans)."
QUOTES from "Understanding the Filipino Mind . . ."
American Legacy
The Japanese and the Filipinos share an American legacy. The Americans, for instance, introduced suffrage to the Filipinos and, after World War II, to the Japanese.
In 1907 the American civil government conducted the first election for a Philippine Assembly, the first freely-elected legislature in Asia. Soon elections were held to elect local officials. The members of the Filipino intelligentsia soon embraced wholeheartedly the electoral process. For instance Isabelo de los Reyes, who was addressed "Don Belong," was elected as a councilor of the Tondo district in the City of Manila in 1910. Don Belong was the founder of the labor movement, a cofounder of the Philippine Independent Church and considered father of Philippine folklore. He ran for the Philippine Senate in 1922 in his native Ilocos Region and won.
According to TIME magazine (Aug. 4, 1997, issue), "The United States prides itself on being a model of participatory democracy. But according to a new study, America lags behind much of the world when it comes to casting ballots. An average of just 44.1% of the voting-age population has turned out for national legislative elections in the 1990s, putting the United States in 139th place among 163 countries surveyed by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IIDEA).
"The top-ranked nation? Malta, with a turnout of 96.2%. Here's how some other democracies stack up:
Spain 77.6%
Britain 75.4%
Canada 63.9%
France 61.3%
Japan 56.6%."
The Philippines was not mentioned in the report of the IIDEA. Based on how Filipinos fell in love with suffrage after the Americans introduced it in the Islands at the turn of the 20th century, the Philippines should be ranked higher than Malta. For it is said that if there were 10,000 voters in a Philippine town, 10,500 electors would cast their ballots on Election Day. Filipinos joke about their electoral process, which former Philippine Vice President Salvador H. Laurel described in 1980 as a procedure that involved the "widespread use of guns, goons and gold." Filipinos, as students of American participatory democracy, are doing better than their teachers are. Election days in the Philippines are official holidays and the entire country turns on a festive mood. Elections are like big fiestas in the country. Japan on the other hand has copied the American system with just the use of gold (money) to finance television political ads, buy sleek campaign materials, support volunteers and pay professional campaign staff.
What's the percentage of the Filipino electors turning out to cast ballots in legislative elections? In a column in July 1997 Maximo V. Soliven, the dean of Filipino columnists, mentioned electoral statistics. Soliven wrote: "The province of Ilocos Norte (the home province of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos) had 280,386 registered voters in 1995, in 1,394 precincts. Of this total, 222,735 actually voted." This translates to a turnout of almost 79.44%.
Soliven continued to cite the voting statistic on the congressional district where Marcos's widow, Imelda, won her seat to the House of Representatives. "Imelda's Leyte district had 175,619 registered voters in 875 precincts. Some 133,987 actually voted in that 1995 contest." This amounted to a turnout of 76.29%.
The Filipino dean of columnists then discussed the voting turnout in San Juan, Rizal, which is the hometown of the (then) incumbent Philippine Vice President, (now deposed President) Joseph Estrada, who Filipinos described as a million times worse in speaking in English than former American Vice President Dan Quayle. Soliven said, "In San Juan's 466 precincts, with 82,393 registered voters, only 51,054 cast their ballots, which showed the metropolitan citizens could be apathetic."
This resulted to a low turnout of only 61.96%. But even then, this is much higher than America's average of 44.1% and even of Japan's turnout of 56.6%. The Philippine turnout rate will even be higher if one takes the median of the three localities cited by Soliven. The median turnout is 72.56%, which will rank behind Britain and Spain and higher by almost 10 percentage points than France and Canada. And Filipinos say that politicians in the Philippines have the nasty habit of paying off their opponent's supporters not to cast their ballots.
UNQUOTE.
I am inviting you all to join me in doing more research about the proposed topic that I tentatively dub "'Reinventing the Filipino Suffrage." Perhaps all of us may be coauthors of this study. We need to devise a fundamental step in defining how the Overseas Filipinos, especially Filipino Americans, may be able to "reinvent" elections in the Philippines, so that by 2010 the best, the brightest, the proven-honest candidates may be able to win public offices with the support and the resources of the Overseas-Filipino communities. This may be the only way to effect positive electoral reforms in the homeland. # # #
UNQUOTE.
I am inviting you all to join me in doing more research about the proposed topic that I tentatively dub "'Reinventing the Filipino Suffrage." Perhaps all of us may be coauthors of this study. We need to devise a fundamental step in defining how the Overseas Filipinos, especially Filipino Americans, may be able to "reinvent" elections in the Philippines, so that by 2010 the best, the brightest, the proven-honest candidates may be able to win public offices with the support and the resources of the Overseas-Filipino communities. This may be the only way to effect positive electoral reforms in the homeland. # # #
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Wednesday, May 16, 2007
*Filipinos denied true democracy*
The crux of democracy is allowing people the right to govern themselves. Filipinos have completed part of this process, voting on Monday for representatives in mid-term elections, but the country's political system is so flawed that this is in essence where the democratic act for its citizens begins and ends.
Elections have, once again, been held amid corruption, vote-buying, ineptness and intimidation. More than 100 people were killed during the campaign. With a complicated and outdated vote-counting system, there is still plenty of room for more fraud to take place in the coming weeks before winners are declared.
Yet the Philippines proudly calls itself a democracy. Philippine
officials went so far as to praise the conduct of the polls, saying they were a credit to Filipinos. From the perspective that people are allowed to vote, the country is indeed a democracy. With at least 70 per cent voter turnout, this right was exercised at levels that are the envy of more established democracies such as the US and Britain. But the right to vote does not in itself constitute democracy. Elections have to be
conducted in a free and fair atmosphere and this was not the case in parts of the country.
As important as elections is the quality of representation, and here, too, the Philippines falls down. The wealthy, the famous, the well-connected: these are the people who constitute the present political elite and if previous elections are a guide, will continue to dominate when local government officials are declared and the composition of the House of Representatives and the newly elected half of the Senate are known.
The interests of such people have clearly not been to help ordinary Filipinos, a large proportion of whom languish in poverty. The respectable economic growth achieved by the Philippines is not filtering down to the poor. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has time and again spoken of the need to rid her country of corruption and political self-interest, but she has made little headway. While she gives these challenges a low priority, true democracy will continue to elude Filipinos.
South China Morning Post, editorial May 16, 2007
Comment by GUEST on 2007-05-16 22:51:12 Using IP: 76.171.11.152
ibon Features/May 2007
COMMENTARY
ELECTIONS IN RP: ILLUSION OF DEMOCRACY?
The closing of voting precincts sees the end only of the first salvo of election cheating with the wholesale manufacturing of the eventual outcome still to come. This is bad enough, but unfortunately the problem with the Philippine electoral exercise actually goes much deeper.
By Sonny Africa
IBON Research Head
IBON Features--No one disputes that the Philippines is mired in
economic and political crises. There is endemic poverty that despite government hype everyone knows is nowhere near being overcome. Around 65 million Filipinos struggle to live on P96 or less a day, according to the latest 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of the National Statistics Office (NSO). The net worth of just the ten richest Filipinos is equivalent to the combined annual income of the poorest 49 million Filipinos. The situation can only get worse with corporate profits rising even as joblessness is at a sustained
historic high.
At the same time is public dismay over a political landscape strewn with issues: illegitimacy, continuing bureaucratic corruption, patronage and self-serving politicians. Worst of all are the unabated political killings and disappearances of over a thousand Filipinos daring to struggle for a more humane future and an end to the country's chronic crises. This is just in the last six years.
There are perhaps those who believe that the May 2007 mid-term elections offer a path to resolve the country's ills. They are
unlikely to be very many. Probably much more common is a well-founded sense of despair that the elections are a momentary spectacle that in the end won't mean any real change in governance much less in the country.
The most attention is given to the widespread electoral fraud and violence which are barefaced subversions of the democratic process. These are things already familiar to most Filipinos whether of the fading generation with a recollection of the so-called two-party system pre-Martial Law, of those born during the Marcos dictatorship, or of the generation who believed that they were favored for growing up amid a flawed but at least restored democracy under Aquino.
Unfortunately the despair actually has much deeper roots that strike down to the essential character of "democracy" in the Philippines: it is in many essential respects a false democracy that cannot but result in perpetual social crisis. The fraud and violence during elections are just some of the symptoms of the deep-seated social problem of elite domination of Philippine political life. Even including the appalling phenomenon of political dynasties, of trapo patronage and of brazen opportunist turncoatism still only gives part of the picture.
The problem with the country's politics is that it remains
fundamentally elite-dominated and so overwhelmingly about governance for and by elites. This is a problem that dates from the birth of the Philippine Republic at the turn of the century, continued through the American colonial period, and has alarmingly persisted under post-war neocolonialism until today. On the face of it the last hundred years appears to have seen democracy unevenly but surely taking root with, despite the Martial Law interregnum, inexorable forward progress. However, the Philippines regrettably has yet to make the truly
qualitative democratic breakthrough.
This is not to deny the many partial gains that have taken place for there is certainly an accumulation of positive steps. It is rather to underscore that, despite all these and the opportunities they open up, the essentially undemocratic character of the country's politics remains. Philippine politics is changing, but it has yet to really change. Forces for democracy and more broad-based citizen's participation in governance that genuinely serves their interests are increasing, but they have yet to overcome elite power.
Great resistance
Fortunately the undemocratic character of Philippine politics is being challenged. In ever-increasing numbers, Filipinos have defied the false "freedom of choice" offered by elite-dominated elections. Indeed the increasing violence with which this challenge is put down is back-handed testament to their ever-mounting successes. These all build up towards the much-desired qualitative change in Philippine politics.
At the core of this challenge is the understanding that Filipinos are kept in grinding poverty by elite domination of economic and political life. At the national level this is a set-up that big foreign powers such as the US favor. Lasting Philippine economic backwardness guarantees them a source of cheap labor and natural resources, as well as an outlet for recycling their surplus capital. It also guarantees that the country is weak enough to be subordinated to larger imperialist geopolitical and strategic objectives in the East Asian region.
However this unjust situation is also what has given rise to the
greatest hope of overturning it. Social movements have formed and gather strength with the aim of replacing elite domination with a more democratic system that gives primacy to the interest of the majority of Filipinos.
The rise of social movements is important in the country's attempt to establish a democracy. Their most vital contribution is the painstaking attention to building political consciousness at the grassroots. This is a political awareness that pays rigorous attention to addressing the roots of the country's stifled modernity. Accompanying this understanding is moreover a commitment to organizing and direct participation in concrete struggles to build a democracy.
Ruling elites have worked to keep these in check and tried to put down their threats to the established order. On one hand they have not been able to prevent important victories such as the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 and the ouster of the corrupt Estrada presidency in 2001. At the same time they are especially careful to preserve their parliamentary bastions of elite power.
In 1946, six congressional representatives of the Democratic Alliance (DA) known to be opposed to unequal treaties with the US were prevented from taking their seats following trumped-up charges of electoral fraud and terrorism in Central Luzon. Especially working with allies in the Nacionalista Party (NP), they would have been enough to deny the three-fourths majority needed to ratify treaties in Congress.
In 1987, the Left-leaning Partido ng Bayan (PnB) which fielded
candidates at the senatorial down to the local level came under
violent attack by state forces. Six congressional candidates were assassinated, six other provincial coordinators killed, and hundreds more party leaders and members attacked and harassed. PnB offices were bombed and rallies disrupted or broken up.
The year 2001 saw the breakthrough of Left politics in Congress with the progressive political party Bayan Muna (BM) taking the maximum three party-list seats available to it in the House of Representatives. Strengthening and expansion continued in 2004-- with six seats going to BM, Anakpawis (AP) and Gabriela Women's Party (GWP). Political elites have however responded with a systematic and increasingly violent crackdown not just on these parties which have decisively won seats in Congress but also on the larger social and mass movement that they represent and draw their strength from.
Crisis and authoritarianism
The last six years have been brutal particularly for progressive and democratic forces. Most dramatic are the outright attacks on the mass movement and progressive political parties, including political killings, enforced disappearances, and assassination attempts. The attacks are wide-ranging and include black propaganda and vilification campaigns, illegal arrests, interrogations and torture. There are also pseudo-legal attacks on national leaders involving trumped-up rebellion and murder charges.
The suppression of dissent has at times taken on a legal façade falling just short of outright Martial Law. There was the "calibrated pre-emptive response" declared in September 2005 against protestors aside from a more assertive implementation of the Marcos era "no permit-no rally". Executive Order (EO) 464, also declared in September
2005, prevented officials from appearing before investigations of
high-level government electoral cheating and corruption. Presidential Proclamation 1017's legally ambiguous "state of national emergency" was declared and sent the political signal that the Arroyo regime would not hesitate to mobilize its full powers against any and all opposition.
It is also worth mentioning how the deepening economic crisis and the shrinking of economic spoils from power also appear to have had another effect. The faction of the elite not in power-- the mainstream political opposition-- has also to some extent been subjected to political repression albeit to a much less degree than the democratic mass movement.
The post-election scenario augurs even more dangerous times for democracy. The National ID System has already begun to be implemented even if only on a limited scale so far. The National Security Plan's (NISP) Oplan Bantay Laya II has already been drawn up with targets going beyond alleged terrorists to also include revolutionary armed groups and civilian Leftist organizations. All this coincides with global US military aggression waging a self-declared "war on terror"
that, among others, aims to secure the Philippines as a key strategic location in East and Southeast Asia. There have already been massive increases in US military aid and intervention under the Arroyo regime aimed at eliminating not just armed liberation movements but also nationalist opposition to the US military presence.
The political situation is most obviously about Pres. Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo fighting for sheer political survival. She is
beleaguered by issues of illegitimacy following the fraudulent 2004 presidential elections, by the persistence of high-level and
grand-scale corruption, and by the economic problems caused by retrogressive "free market" policies. There is widespread public dissatisfaction which already resulted in two impeachment moves and a vigorous ouster campaign.
The current administration' s survival is now critically dependent on securing greater political control through the mid-term elections. Particularly important is control over the House of Representatives to forestall another impeachment move. Its comprehensive campaign to survive includes another episode of massive electoral fraud, using public funds for electioneering, brazen patronage politics, harassment of local opposition politicians and even subverting of the party-list system. The political killings and attacks in turn are aimed at maiming, if not decimating, among the most organized and effective
forces demanding real change. The regime also seeks support from the US by promising charter change to further open up the economy and to allow the wholesale return of US troops.
However the political situation can also be seen at another level: as an elite-dominated system striving to preserve itself amid deepening economic and political crisis. The Filipino people have been engaged in a centuries-long struggle that is creating the real foundations for democracy. Against them are elites threatened by the rumble underfoot who are reacting viciously to preserve their rule. The hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilizing across the country to watch the polls are engaged in a noble effort. However the fundamental social
change sought will only come when millions of Filipinos are able to genuinely claim political power and put in place a true democracy.
IBON Features
IBON Features is a media service of IBON Foundation, an independent economic policy and research institution. When reprinting this feature, please credit IBON Features and give the byline when applicable.
COMMENTARY
ELECTIONS IN RP: ILLUSION OF DEMOCRACY?
The closing of voting precincts sees the end only of the first salvo of election cheating with the wholesale manufacturing of the eventual outcome still to come. This is bad enough, but unfortunately the problem with the Philippine electoral exercise actually goes much deeper.
By Sonny Africa
IBON Research Head
IBON Features--No one disputes that the Philippines is mired in
economic and political crises. There is endemic poverty that despite government hype everyone knows is nowhere near being overcome. Around 65 million Filipinos struggle to live on P96 or less a day, according to the latest 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of the National Statistics Office (NSO). The net worth of just the ten richest Filipinos is equivalent to the combined annual income of the poorest 49 million Filipinos. The situation can only get worse with corporate profits rising even as joblessness is at a sustained
historic high.
At the same time is public dismay over a political landscape strewn with issues: illegitimacy, continuing bureaucratic corruption, patronage and self-serving politicians. Worst of all are the unabated political killings and disappearances of over a thousand Filipinos daring to struggle for a more humane future and an end to the country's chronic crises. This is just in the last six years.
There are perhaps those who believe that the May 2007 mid-term elections offer a path to resolve the country's ills. They are
unlikely to be very many. Probably much more common is a well-founded sense of despair that the elections are a momentary spectacle that in the end won't mean any real change in governance much less in the country.
The most attention is given to the widespread electoral fraud and violence which are barefaced subversions of the democratic process. These are things already familiar to most Filipinos whether of the fading generation with a recollection of the so-called two-party system pre-Martial Law, of those born during the Marcos dictatorship, or of the generation who believed that they were favored for growing up amid a flawed but at least restored democracy under Aquino.
Unfortunately the despair actually has much deeper roots that strike down to the essential character of "democracy" in the Philippines: it is in many essential respects a false democracy that cannot but result in perpetual social crisis. The fraud and violence during elections are just some of the symptoms of the deep-seated social problem of elite domination of Philippine political life. Even including the appalling phenomenon of political dynasties, of trapo patronage and of brazen opportunist turncoatism still only gives part of the picture.
The problem with the country's politics is that it remains
fundamentally elite-dominated and so overwhelmingly about governance for and by elites. This is a problem that dates from the birth of the Philippine Republic at the turn of the century, continued through the American colonial period, and has alarmingly persisted under post-war neocolonialism until today. On the face of it the last hundred years appears to have seen democracy unevenly but surely taking root with, despite the Martial Law interregnum, inexorable forward progress. However, the Philippines regrettably has yet to make the truly
qualitative democratic breakthrough.
This is not to deny the many partial gains that have taken place for there is certainly an accumulation of positive steps. It is rather to underscore that, despite all these and the opportunities they open up, the essentially undemocratic character of the country's politics remains. Philippine politics is changing, but it has yet to really change. Forces for democracy and more broad-based citizen's participation in governance that genuinely serves their interests are increasing, but they have yet to overcome elite power.
Great resistance
Fortunately the undemocratic character of Philippine politics is being challenged. In ever-increasing numbers, Filipinos have defied the false "freedom of choice" offered by elite-dominated elections. Indeed the increasing violence with which this challenge is put down is back-handed testament to their ever-mounting successes. These all build up towards the much-desired qualitative change in Philippine politics.
At the core of this challenge is the understanding that Filipinos are kept in grinding poverty by elite domination of economic and political life. At the national level this is a set-up that big foreign powers such as the US favor. Lasting Philippine economic backwardness guarantees them a source of cheap labor and natural resources, as well as an outlet for recycling their surplus capital. It also guarantees that the country is weak enough to be subordinated to larger imperialist geopolitical and strategic objectives in the East Asian region.
However this unjust situation is also what has given rise to the
greatest hope of overturning it. Social movements have formed and gather strength with the aim of replacing elite domination with a more democratic system that gives primacy to the interest of the majority of Filipinos.
The rise of social movements is important in the country's attempt to establish a democracy. Their most vital contribution is the painstaking attention to building political consciousness at the grassroots. This is a political awareness that pays rigorous attention to addressing the roots of the country's stifled modernity. Accompanying this understanding is moreover a commitment to organizing and direct participation in concrete struggles to build a democracy.
Ruling elites have worked to keep these in check and tried to put down their threats to the established order. On one hand they have not been able to prevent important victories such as the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 and the ouster of the corrupt Estrada presidency in 2001. At the same time they are especially careful to preserve their parliamentary bastions of elite power.
In 1946, six congressional representatives of the Democratic Alliance (DA) known to be opposed to unequal treaties with the US were prevented from taking their seats following trumped-up charges of electoral fraud and terrorism in Central Luzon. Especially working with allies in the Nacionalista Party (NP), they would have been enough to deny the three-fourths majority needed to ratify treaties in Congress.
In 1987, the Left-leaning Partido ng Bayan (PnB) which fielded
candidates at the senatorial down to the local level came under
violent attack by state forces. Six congressional candidates were assassinated, six other provincial coordinators killed, and hundreds more party leaders and members attacked and harassed. PnB offices were bombed and rallies disrupted or broken up.
The year 2001 saw the breakthrough of Left politics in Congress with the progressive political party Bayan Muna (BM) taking the maximum three party-list seats available to it in the House of Representatives. Strengthening and expansion continued in 2004-- with six seats going to BM, Anakpawis (AP) and Gabriela Women's Party (GWP). Political elites have however responded with a systematic and increasingly violent crackdown not just on these parties which have decisively won seats in Congress but also on the larger social and mass movement that they represent and draw their strength from.
Crisis and authoritarianism
The last six years have been brutal particularly for progressive and democratic forces. Most dramatic are the outright attacks on the mass movement and progressive political parties, including political killings, enforced disappearances, and assassination attempts. The attacks are wide-ranging and include black propaganda and vilification campaigns, illegal arrests, interrogations and torture. There are also pseudo-legal attacks on national leaders involving trumped-up rebellion and murder charges.
The suppression of dissent has at times taken on a legal façade falling just short of outright Martial Law. There was the "calibrated pre-emptive response" declared in September 2005 against protestors aside from a more assertive implementation of the Marcos era "no permit-no rally". Executive Order (EO) 464, also declared in September
2005, prevented officials from appearing before investigations of
high-level government electoral cheating and corruption. Presidential Proclamation 1017's legally ambiguous "state of national emergency" was declared and sent the political signal that the Arroyo regime would not hesitate to mobilize its full powers against any and all opposition.
It is also worth mentioning how the deepening economic crisis and the shrinking of economic spoils from power also appear to have had another effect. The faction of the elite not in power-- the mainstream political opposition-- has also to some extent been subjected to political repression albeit to a much less degree than the democratic mass movement.
The post-election scenario augurs even more dangerous times for democracy. The National ID System has already begun to be implemented even if only on a limited scale so far. The National Security Plan's (NISP) Oplan Bantay Laya II has already been drawn up with targets going beyond alleged terrorists to also include revolutionary armed groups and civilian Leftist organizations. All this coincides with global US military aggression waging a self-declared "war on terror"
that, among others, aims to secure the Philippines as a key strategic location in East and Southeast Asia. There have already been massive increases in US military aid and intervention under the Arroyo regime aimed at eliminating not just armed liberation movements but also nationalist opposition to the US military presence.
The political situation is most obviously about Pres. Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo fighting for sheer political survival. She is
beleaguered by issues of illegitimacy following the fraudulent 2004 presidential elections, by the persistence of high-level and
grand-scale corruption, and by the economic problems caused by retrogressive "free market" policies. There is widespread public dissatisfaction which already resulted in two impeachment moves and a vigorous ouster campaign.
The current administration' s survival is now critically dependent on securing greater political control through the mid-term elections. Particularly important is control over the House of Representatives to forestall another impeachment move. Its comprehensive campaign to survive includes another episode of massive electoral fraud, using public funds for electioneering, brazen patronage politics, harassment of local opposition politicians and even subverting of the party-list system. The political killings and attacks in turn are aimed at maiming, if not decimating, among the most organized and effective
forces demanding real change. The regime also seeks support from the US by promising charter change to further open up the economy and to allow the wholesale return of US troops.
However the political situation can also be seen at another level: as an elite-dominated system striving to preserve itself amid deepening economic and political crisis. The Filipino people have been engaged in a centuries-long struggle that is creating the real foundations for democracy. Against them are elites threatened by the rumble underfoot who are reacting viciously to preserve their rule. The hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilizing across the country to watch the polls are engaged in a noble effort. However the fundamental social
change sought will only come when millions of Filipinos are able to genuinely claim political power and put in place a true democracy.
IBON Features
IBON Features is a media service of IBON Foundation, an independent economic policy and research institution. When reprinting this feature, please credit IBON Features and give the byline when applicable.
Comment by GUEST on 2007-05-17 07:50:07 Using IP: 76.171.11.152
Here goes, author unknown: (As circulated on the Internet:)
What is a Philippine election?
It all begins when the country's brightest, most highly qualified
inhabitants, the young dynamic professionals, citizens who have the potential to make good leaders, get together and examine the country's problems, the state of politics and the long-term national prospects.
What happens next? They decide to emigrate.
And after that? Another group of bright people get together.
What do they do? They also emigrate.
And then? And so on and so forth.
What does any of this have to do with a Philippine election?
When talented, smart and highly qualified potential leaders leave the country all the time, who are you left with? Retired basketball players? Toilet comedians? Bad actors and actresses? Spoiled vicious rich kids? Ageing and debauched hermaphrodites? You're now ready to hold a Philippine election.
How important are elected officials to the Philippines? Nobody's been able to figure out an answer to that one.
What's at stake in a Philippine election? Prizes and surprises!
Millions in cash! Dream houses! The vacations of your choice! Fun for the entire family! That's from the politician's point of view.
How many positions are waiting to be filled in the coming elections?
About 17,000 public offices and a still undetermined number of graves.
So it's like lotto? Sort of, except that when you lose you could lose your life.
Who are qualified to run? Anyone at all! Generally, any person of any citizenship who's alive, of a certain age, good character and able to summon a mob huge enough to intimidate the Supreme Court.
What kind of candidates has the most chances of winning? "Artists" who have the "confidence" of the people.
You mean a con artist, don't you?
You said it, we didn't.
Who are qualified to vote? Those willing to be bused around and go a hard day's work visiting a lot of precincts during Election Day.
Talk about parties in the Philippines. Everybody loves going to
parties in the Philippines.
No, political parties. Oh! Well, in the past there used to be only
two parties, the Liberals and the Nacionalistas. Now there are
several dozen, but they still all fall under two main parties: the
Sosyalites and the Opportunistas.
What's the difference between the two parties?
Sosyalites love parties. Opportunistas will join any.
Explain what this year's elections are all about.
Did you hear the one about the murderer, the thief, the incompetent and the idiot?
No, is that a joke?
That's the national election.
You're a cynical bastard, aren't you?
No, no, no, we're not running for office.
Why are there so many international observers who come to a
Philippine election?
They're fascinated by all the strange phenomena that accompany it.
What are you talking about? Miracles are a dime a dozen during elections here. Vicious criminals suddenly become saintly leaders. Voters fly. The dead cast their ballots. Morons become national
leaders.
Why are all the Filipino Churches so closely involved in elections? They're also interested in studying the miracles. Also, priests are needed to administer the last sacraments to all the people who're killed.
Philippine elections sound like they're really violent and bloody.
Not really. Not more than several dozen die on the average. Why that's only a teensy fraction of the population! And everything blows over after Election Day, so the country can bet back to its usual kidnapping, wholesale graft, hostage taking and coup attempts.
How clean are Philippine elections?
Let's put it this way: if Philippine elections were your house you wouldn't want to live in it.
What are guns, goons and gold? Three traditional important elements of a successful election. There's a new one: film credits.
How come this pamphlet doesn't include a question that goes why can't all candidates just jump in the lake?
That question looks like it was just gratuitously put into this
article for very naughty purposes. We decline to answer it.
How can you tell an election outcome is suspicious?
Power failures in very specific rooms where the counting is taking place. Numbers that start losing zeroes as the days go by.
Can't the candidates, out of the goodness of their hearts, put a stop to crooked elections?
You really ARE from another planet, aren't you?
What is a Philippine election?
It all begins when the country's brightest, most highly qualified
inhabitants, the young dynamic professionals, citizens who have the potential to make good leaders, get together and examine the country's problems, the state of politics and the long-term national prospects.
What happens next? They decide to emigrate.
And after that? Another group of bright people get together.
What do they do? They also emigrate.
And then? And so on and so forth.
What does any of this have to do with a Philippine election?
When talented, smart and highly qualified potential leaders leave the country all the time, who are you left with? Retired basketball players? Toilet comedians? Bad actors and actresses? Spoiled vicious rich kids? Ageing and debauched hermaphrodites? You're now ready to hold a Philippine election.
How important are elected officials to the Philippines? Nobody's been able to figure out an answer to that one.
What's at stake in a Philippine election? Prizes and surprises!
Millions in cash! Dream houses! The vacations of your choice! Fun for the entire family! That's from the politician's point of view.
How many positions are waiting to be filled in the coming elections?
About 17,000 public offices and a still undetermined number of graves.
So it's like lotto? Sort of, except that when you lose you could lose your life.
Who are qualified to run? Anyone at all! Generally, any person of any citizenship who's alive, of a certain age, good character and able to summon a mob huge enough to intimidate the Supreme Court.
What kind of candidates has the most chances of winning? "Artists" who have the "confidence" of the people.
You mean a con artist, don't you?
You said it, we didn't.
Who are qualified to vote? Those willing to be bused around and go a hard day's work visiting a lot of precincts during Election Day.
Talk about parties in the Philippines. Everybody loves going to
parties in the Philippines.
No, political parties. Oh! Well, in the past there used to be only
two parties, the Liberals and the Nacionalistas. Now there are
several dozen, but they still all fall under two main parties: the
Sosyalites and the Opportunistas.
What's the difference between the two parties?
Sosyalites love parties. Opportunistas will join any.
Explain what this year's elections are all about.
Did you hear the one about the murderer, the thief, the incompetent and the idiot?
No, is that a joke?
That's the national election.
You're a cynical bastard, aren't you?
No, no, no, we're not running for office.
Why are there so many international observers who come to a
Philippine election?
They're fascinated by all the strange phenomena that accompany it.
What are you talking about? Miracles are a dime a dozen during elections here. Vicious criminals suddenly become saintly leaders. Voters fly. The dead cast their ballots. Morons become national
leaders.
Why are all the Filipino Churches so closely involved in elections? They're also interested in studying the miracles. Also, priests are needed to administer the last sacraments to all the people who're killed.
Philippine elections sound like they're really violent and bloody.
Not really. Not more than several dozen die on the average. Why that's only a teensy fraction of the population! And everything blows over after Election Day, so the country can bet back to its usual kidnapping, wholesale graft, hostage taking and coup attempts.
How clean are Philippine elections?
Let's put it this way: if Philippine elections were your house you wouldn't want to live in it.
What are guns, goons and gold? Three traditional important elements of a successful election. There's a new one: film credits.
How come this pamphlet doesn't include a question that goes why can't all candidates just jump in the lake?
That question looks like it was just gratuitously put into this
article for very naughty purposes. We decline to answer it.
How can you tell an election outcome is suspicious?
Power failures in very specific rooms where the counting is taking place. Numbers that start losing zeroes as the days go by.
Can't the candidates, out of the goodness of their hearts, put a stop to crooked elections?
You really ARE from another planet, aren't you?
Comment by GUEST on 2007-06-18 18:30:00 Using IP: 207.200.116.199
In a message dated 6/18/2007 6:11:18 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
writes:
Er, actually, I wrote it two years ago. It's also on my website:
http://hotmanila.ph/OutofFocus/2004/elections07044901.htm
alan
Dear Alan:
One of our www.mabuhayradio.com readers posted the said article in the User Comments after my article, "Reinventing Philippine Suffrage." The link to it is http://www.mabuhayradio.com/content/view/58/90/
We will, therefore, post your statement and this retort in the said User Comments box to conform to the truth.
Nice satirical piece, Mr. Robles.
Mabuhay,
Bobby M. Reyes
Editor
www.mabuhayradio.com
Er, actually, I wrote it two years ago. It's also on my website:
http://hotmanila.ph/OutofFocus/2004/elections07044901.htm
alan
Dear Alan:
One of our www.mabuhayradio.com readers posted the said article in the User Comments after my article, "Reinventing Philippine Suffrage." The link to it is http://www.mabuhayradio.com/content/view/58/90/
We will, therefore, post your statement and this retort in the said User Comments box to conform to the truth.
Nice satirical piece, Mr. Robles.
Mabuhay,
Bobby M. Reyes
Editor
www.mabuhayradio.com
Comment by GUEST on 2007-06-18 20:25:06 Using IP: 207.200.116.199
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