I’m not a member of any political party, none of my friends are, I’ve had clients who were/ are, but no one I know among our neighbors, office workers, family members (except a cousin) are. Political parties are seasonally useful as seasonal source of income for many of us; while the army of unemployed become instant party members, one season every three years, to do the work of pamphleteering, “postering”, “leafleteering”, the “megaphoning”; but can those really be considered “party members”? Or do those who get involved in the elections really are just seasonal workers? taking advantage of the largesse available once every three years?
What do political parties mean in this country? (Have you ever attended a meeting of the old fogeys, the politicians trickle in for the first hour of the meeting, the next two hours are spent on small talk bashing their rivals: those in power if they are so-called oppositionists and those who are “destabilizing” if they are the ruling clique; on the third hour, when you ask, what is the agenda of our meeting today, they’d look at each other with that “who is this upstart asking us what the topics are?”; the next hour is spent on gossip, and then after five hours of sitting down and eating and drinking, the politicians trickle out one by one for an interview here and there… (the real meetings occur among operators, silly; those who are pointmen; they have a checklist of areas, drop points, contact persons, payoffs, etc.).
But what do elections and political parties mean to most Filipinos except as the source of business activity once every three years: to put up fly-by-night tabloids for politicians, to sell news coverage and airtime, to conduct campaign seminars, election law seminars, to offer packages to candidates, to cartelize the selling of ER’’s; to rent out buses, sound system, printing presses, office space; sell Styrofoam, bottled water, fans, hats, and to accept P500 for every vote?
What do elections and political parties mean to you, except as listening to and looking at a different set of faces?
Those who think they are kingmakers or who aspire to be kingmakers are in a sputtering bid to be relevant to a generation that has decided to close this era, quietly, a year ago; (you just didn’t hear it); while those who want to be President just want to replace Gloria but offer nothing else beyond saying they are opposition; those who are in power think they can end their decade by choosing someone who will not indict them (failing that, there’s always Plan B).
No one is asking the hard questions.
The legal provisions on political parties are the best argument of their meaninglessness. Any candidate can change political parties as long as the switch is done a year before election date. Doesn’t that mean the political parties mean nothing if you can switch sides for no reason at all? (Not even a semblance or a pretense of a cause is required.)
If you’re willing to negotiate with a plunderer and you’re willing to bargain not to indict another, guess what kind of a President you would make? If you had done nothing when hundreds were being assassinated on account of their political beliefs, and even confirmed the appointments and promotion of those who were in control of areas where the murders occurred. guess what kind of a Commander-in-Chief you would make?
End notes:
(to be continued)
