FROM THE ‘40s through the ‘50s, elections hereabouts were dictated by the three G’s of guns, goons and gold.
Thence arose the political warlords with their private armies and their infrastructure of domination. On one hand, I still get the chills at the thought – impacted in my youth – of the mau-mau and the saka-saka in solving their patron’s problems: always with extreme prejudice. On the other, I still get amused at the thought of the politico, not unlike a Mafioso don, dispensing charities to his subjects on Christmas, weddings, fiestas and funerals.
Ferdinand Edralin Marcos – the quintessential crafty politico – refined in the ‘60s the three G’s into the three P’s of persuasion, purchase and power.
Subtlety was the key there. Finesse the operative word. But only insofar as he got what he wanted with the first two P’s, resorting to brute force in the ‘70s. When the going got a little tough for Ferdie, the tough did not get going. They got in-Crame-nated with the Philippine Constabulary, if not im-forted at the Philippine Army’s Bonifacio.
A constancy in Philippine politics is patronage.
At the 1986 EDSA, Cory Aquino sounded the call for new politics.
At the 2001 EDSA, Cory Aquino, seconded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, trumpeted anew the call for new politics. The trumpet blared a badly broken note. For Arroyo herself turned as old a politico as any ever produced by the land, some militant sectors even claiming she out-Marcosed the Great Ferdinand himself.
Equity was the buzzword in the elections of 2001.
For the re-electionist, equity of the incumbent. He takes precedence over all comers in his post. A reward for party loyalty.
With the success of the anti-Estrada campaign that year, another equity was appended to the principal criteria in the selection of candidates. This was equity of the impeachment. It was not enough for the candidate to be a party loyalist. He must have engaged actively in the oust-Estrada campaign. To prove his worth, not so much to the people, as to the then newly-installed Gloria.
Over and above these two equities, by far the most important criterion – were we to believe some sectors, disgruntled or otherwise – was the so-called equity of the investment. This referred to the infusion of capital – euphemized to "enrolment" or, in the local parlance, matricula — by a wannabe to the party of his choice. Preferably the ruling party, but of course.
So I wrote (all of the above) in Zona Libre, The Voice, March 4-10, 2001 issue.
As it was in 2001. So it was in 2004. With the added element of equity of the Comelec. No forgetting here of "Hello, Garci." That same equity, even minus Garci, moving onto 2007 in a series of hails and farewells from the national level – Hello, Migz, bye-bye Koko, to the local levels — Welcome Romy, so long Lyndon in Magalang; Bye Nardo, Bye Nardo, Bye Nardo – hey, you’re still there? – in Sasmuan.
So it was then. So it is now. Only the terms changed. The end has remained the same.
So what do we have here? The Golden Rule: He/She who has the gold rules.
And this prayer too: Glory be to whoever has the money. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, money, money, money.
Yeah, there is no equity in this world. Only iniquity. Amen.
