THE PRESIDENTIAL election in 2022 is considered one of the most, if not the most, crucial in Philippine modern political history. Only God knows ( the devil is no omniscient) what will happen to the country if the Filipino electorate will make the wrong choice , or deprived , one way or the other, to make the right one. (But the devil can read signals like YouTube).
The vital importance of that choice is best illustrated by the sheer fact that , for first time, there are 97 official presidential candidates. Probably around 91 of them will be declared politely as the “uncandidates” soon. Nuisance is a harsher term, but if the shoe fits, as they say, wear it.
Even if only half of them are declared nuisance candidates, notwithstanding the good intention, which doesn’t seem to count much, the mediums are the message. More than ever, there are more who believe that the 2022 election could be a make -or -break case. The least of their brethren must be presumably overwhelmed by a deep sense of patriotism to indicate their willingness to go for the presidency to save the future. Alas, all of that will go down the drain, for sure.
There are a number of things to be nervous, suspicious, cynical and downright fatalistic, the definition of the Filipino voter for the longest time. There had been surveys in the past on the homos politicus called voters and nonvoters.(Disclosure: three were done the United States and one in the Philippines). All of them have the ring of truth to them, regardless of one’s inclination toward a political candidate, party, tribe, or color.
In the first, eighty nine percent of non-voters and seventy six percent of voters agreed that most political candidates will say almost anything to get themselves elected. That means some will promise to build a bridge where no river exists, even if they have to dig one. Part of the vision of build, build and build, and usually leads happily to the bank. Ask any politician.
In the second, seventy percent of nonvoters and seventy percent of voters agreed that candidates are more concerned with fighting with each other than with solving the nation’s problems. Which is what Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is saying all this time, or telling Vice President Leni Robredo and others obliquely,that there is a more pressing electoral issue than just being fixated with the anti-BBM agenda. The hungry and the poor and the sick needs the future president’s priority attention. So, maybe, Isko is not really BBM’s or the DDS’ secret candidate.
In the third, nearly seventy percent of nonvoters and voters alike agreed campaigns seem more like a theater or entertainment than something to be taken seriously. Overall, it was learned that where the nonvoters and voters alike differ is on policy. What policy? It’s personality, stupid.
There is a fourth, by the way, subscribed to by some politicians and some priests. Most Filipinos believe it’s okay to take the politicians bribe and vote according to their conscience. That was long before the Americans defined money as speech. Whether the real score has been validated in the confessionary or in court, no can one tell for two reasons: a priest is barred from ratting on his flock and the Comelec hasn’t sent to the slammer anyone yet for vote -buying or vote-selling. One thing is sure: more people emerge poor both in body and spirit after the counting.
The Comelec has just come up with a controversial decision that has made a lot of people uncomfortable. It has awarded a company known as F2 Logistics more than P500 million in contract for the delivery of election materials like official ballots, vote counting machines and others to every nook and cranny of the archipelago. The problem is: the company is reportedly owned by an ally of the President Duterte who donated P30 million in during his presidential run in 2016. Next question, please.
They said the deal is like using a trained canine to watch over a flock of chicken. The dog is trained not to eat them; maybe not all of them, but there is a possibility that it will devour one or two. Or as Murphy’s Law implores, if something can go wrong, it will. Election in the Philippines is usually a perfect storm for that. Comelec has since disabused the suspicious, doubtful and cynical democrats with one sentence: The Constitution doesn’t forbid the Comelec from awarding an election-related contract to someone who is a known donor of the President, or any politician for that matter. The defense rests, Your Honor.
The Constitution and the law do not, in all probability, prohibit COMELEC officials from applying a dose of common sense where the cure will do wonders to assure the Filipino electorate that the 2022 presidential election will be a model for honesty and accuracy, among others. There is also the issue that a public office is a public trust, and the COMELEC officials can refer to it once in a while for valuable discernment.
As the public continues to frantically dial COMELEC, the latter isn’t in a mood to dial back and give public the assurance beyond mere lip service. Chances are , some people might just live happily ever after. Before the contract, there was the looming threat of an investigation by the International Criminal Court over Duterte’s alleged human right violations amounting to crime against humanity. The good news: it’s still a work in progress. The bad news: go back to the 9th paragraph.
Comelec will also decide on the recent disqualification case filed before it against former senator Bongbong Marcos for violation of several counts of tax offenses. Again, this will be a litmus test to the COMELEC’s role like Ceasar’s wife – no reason to doubt its purity, faithfulness and competence as a Constitutional body designed to preside over an honorable and honest election.
The message so far is, go hang.
