NOTES
NOTES
16 November 1997
For presidential aspirants who claim they heard God’s voice egging them to run, Today columnist Jessica Zafra has a question for you: “How do you know that it was the Voice of God telling you to run for president? Was it a deep, booming voice with dramatic reverb? Was it accompanied by a burning bush, a choir of angels, or instructions on how to build an ark? How do you know it was God and not some impostor, like the one with the horns and cloven hoofs?”
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If you read all the headlines indicating political support for Joe De Venecia’s presidential aspirations, it’s tempting to picture a rising, tidal wave of popular sympathy that will triumphantly buoy up the House Speaker all the way to Malacanang: “Leaders of 44,000 cooperatives (with a combined membership of 7.6 million) throws support behind JDV,” “Some 400 mayors, governors, and congressmen from the Visayas and Mindanao for JDV,” “Eighty percent of representatives back JDV,” “All but one sectoral congressmen choose JDV for president,” “Religious group with 10 million members supports JDV,” “Two-thirds of cabinet members endorse JDV.” However, if all these news banners sound like a lot of political muscle, how come JDV receives only 3 to 4 percent in the polls?
The problem with traditional politicians is that, while they may be able to elicit “support” from local leaders, they are often unpopular with the electorate. Notwithstanding our general tendency to bash our voters for political fickleness, the Philippine electorate may have actually reached a level of maturity where being a trapo has become a distinct disadvantage. This is especially true in urban areas where voters have full access to mass media and are too opinionated to be swayed by ward leaders. While political patronage may still be useful to pressure party members to toe the line, grassroots support has become an entirely different matter.
JDV’s influence is also limited to members of the House, obviously because they are the direct recipients of pork barrel. Mayors and governors are often unable to tap into the congressional pipeline. As most students of Philippine politics have observed, there is a general enmity between congressmen on the one hand and mayors and governors on the other. In this context, JDV’s successful courting of DILG Secretary Barbers may seem like a major coup. For the purpose of this Sunday’s nominating consultation, however, Barber’s release of 240,000 pesos to each of some 200 poor municipalities the other day--patronage politics at its worst--will have minimal impact, simply because there are more than 2,500 mayors, governors, and other local leaders. Arch-rival De Villa will have his best opportunity to upstage JDV in this second and final Lakas consultation.
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Remittances from overseas Filipinos are expected to reach close to 6 billion dollars this year. That’s TWO HUNDRED BILLION PESOS. How come OFWs don’t even have a sectoral representative in Congress? Despite a Constitutional provision that allows absentee voting, OFWs are also politically disenfranchised on account of their physical absence on election day--even if, through cable TV and the Internet, instant access to Philippine news anywhere in the world is now a reality. Something’s grossly amiss here. If you’re an overseas Filipino and feel aggrieved, please get in touch. We need to start an open dialogue on this issue.
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