IN A democracy, the late Gov. Bren Z. Guiao once told his inner circle in his inner sanctum at the provincial capitol, everyone is free to make a fool of himself.
That was before he was mercilessly trounced by a massively popular action star in the 1995 gubernatorial race, despite his unprecedented achievements (notably the Aquino By Way that was the longest, safest path from South to North and vice versa during the Mt. Pinatubo explosion} , and despite the most powerful marching political color at the time behind him, the yellow.
It was so complete a political rout that by early evening when the ballots were feverishly being counted that Guiao’s camp, headed by retired Gen. Romy David, already issued a concession statement as Guiao vanished into the May night. A well-known media personality years later quipped: Emo tatasan deng kamulalan da ring botante. (Disclosure: This is a mild, general paraphrase).
Carlos Santayana is there to constantly remind us: we forget the past, it will haunt the present and makes the future dicey.
But there’s another old wisdom by Napoleon Bonaparte: in politics, stupidity is not a handicap.
At the last and final count, there are 97 Filipinos from all walks of life casting a moist eye on the presidency , of what’s left of it after President Duterte finishes his term, most likely, next year. The ground near the Pasig River must have sunk along with Malacanang’s stature. In the meantime, he’s moving heaven, or what he thinks passes for it in his personal theology, and earth, or what passes for as his heaven-sent entitlement, everything goes well as planned. No arrest, no nothing even if the International Criminal Court has fired an early warning shot.
Stupidity is no respecter of person. It’s an all-in paradigm.
Pastor Dietrich Bonhoffer, a German Protestant hanged to death for his alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler, wrote in his Theory of Stupidity that stupidity is not an intellectual issue but a moral one, and not a psychological problem but a sociological phenomenon. It is an every man’s second nature like the original sin.
In the compedium of post World War II analyses, the one that stands out is the conclusion that Germany, for all of it being the country of great poets, great philosophers and great musicians,willingly fell to the insidious inveiglement of an evil demagogue that brought the world to one of its bloodiest wars, not to mention the annihilation of no less than 6 million Jews.
What do we make of the Group of 97? The devil is in the detail.
At least 6 of them are within the political realm of plausibility, though a huge challenge to credibility, even as one Johnny– come -lately is obviously making an intentional,slavish mockery of the ongoing 2022 election related civic exercise, and mightly defends his action indignantly . “The lady doth protesteth too much” is a Shakespearean moral indictment.”
The other 91 fairly belong to what Justice Louise Brandeis as those with zeal about democracy but lacks understanding. Or he could be wrong. The sincerity of those who would eventually be declared “nuisance” by operation of the law before November 15 maybe in pursuing a personal crusade against how politics has turned the way it has under Duterte. You don’t have to be that smart or needing to see the shrink to know that stealing or lying is wrong. Maybe it’s those who called the shot at the COMELEC who need to have their head or conscience examined. Right patient, wrong doctor.
Vice President Leni Robredo, who’s running for president to stop the Marcoses, particularly Bongbong Marcos, and/or a Duterte clone from winning in next year’s presidential race, must demolish that kind of stupidity that has infected many Filipino voters. She has appealed for unity, but unity is not immune to stupidity, either ,which also could infect, if it hasn’t already, her own campaign. There could be unity in defeat as well as in victory.
There’s no morality in politics, warned another ancient sage.
Based on the initial signs after she made her candidacy official, there were exhilarating, probably even exaggerated, reports of “unprecedented response ” , according to a former Pampanga mayor and congressman, who was a Liberal stalwart whose party has been relegated to the background by Robredo, for all intents and purposes, with her new political color, pink.
The next survey will confirm if the needle has moved toward the change, or the miracle, she wants and this country so deserve to bounce back from at least two predatory leaderships in Malacanang, No doubt, she is right about her vision. It still leaves to imagination whether she has the right roadmap to bring her to its rightful destination. But the “NO BONGBONG OR DUTERTE CANDIDATE” alone may not be enough for her to get to her destination.
Stupidity stands very much in the way like a thick, mesmerizing fog to voters.
As part of her strategy, she can borrow important lessons American democrats learned in the last presidential election that President Joe Biden won , which former US President Donald Trump still hasn’t conceded and resulting in nearly half of Americans bringing the 200 –year experiment in democracy to the brink of collapse. For one, the right grassroot information is part of the key to cleanse the voters’ mind of relentless misinformation and disinformation. She had former Pampanga governor Among at her side during her recent visit to the province. It’s a clue: this is a largely Catholic country and priests have been the messengers of old about moral and Godly leadership since time immemorial, although Paul had issued a caveat: listen to them but do not follow what they do.
The battle between the truth and the lies must be won decisively. Trolls must be kicked in the butt.
Duterte, who has often been compared to Trump as an authoritarian populist, will have his own plan, fair or foul, to frustrate Robredo in the presidential election for a personal reason. It is his avowed existential mission. How she will chisel away at the historical stupidity that has plagued Philippine elections, both local and national, would be the most glorious achievement any patriotic Filipino candidate can achieve.
It’s not outside the realm of possibility, and there’s still time, though not plenty. It’s like an all or nothing proposition.
