WILL 2010 FULFILL THE FILIPINOS' HIGH HOPES FOR A BETTER LIFE IN THE PHIL.?

THE METAMORPHOSIS
By
ERNIE D. DELFIN

WILL 2010 FULFILL THE FILIPINOS’ HIGH HOPES
FOR A BETTER LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINES?

The last year has not been so kind to the Filipino people with all the unusual devastations of life and property brought by typhoons Ondoy and Peping in addition to ever increasing unemployment, amidst a highly distrusted administration of Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo. As if that is not enough curse upon the Philippines, the so-called Ampatuan or Maguindanao Massacre happened that made it the worst human rights violation against journalists in the entire world, when 30 out of 57 people were brutally murdered allegedly by the Ampatuan clan, a close political ally of the President that made her win the last 2004, clouded by the infamous “Garci” machinations in Mindanao.

It was a blessing in disguise that the so-called modern heroes of the Philippines, the Overseas Filipino Workers, (OFWs) sent more dollars to the country when the tough gets tougher, owing to the cultural close family ties of the Filipino people. These foreign remittances continue to save the Philippines from a looming economic meltdown.

It’s also an amazing grace that the Filipinos are very patient religious people, bordering on fatalism that conditioned them to become quite resilient to undergo all economic challenges and sufferings. I was in the Philippines for about a month last Christmas and indeed and from my westernized perspectives I reached the conclusion that for them, all these serious problems of the country have to be in the freezer simply because it was Christmastime! Add to this national landscape - the advent of a national election where a new president, vice president, 12 senators, provincial governors and mayors were to be elected come May 10, 2010. The Philippine society simply metamorphoses into a country full of traditional merriments and parties wherever you go. The political circus errrrrr campaigns where millions upon millions of pesos are spent, trickling down to the village voters as “political investment” by wealthy candidates, add more gasoline to these unique fiesta-like-atmosphere of many villages, where the very rich to the very poor of Philippines society happily participate.

Against this background, one can easily feel the excitement of the Filipinos pinning their hopes for a better life to the results of the next election. Rightly or wrongly, millions of Filipinos seemingly believe that their standard of living will improve with another set of political leaders ---- totally oblivious, may be, that the vibrant life of a nation is never dependent upon one set of politicians who are elected but the accumulated productivity of all its citizens. On a macro economic level, progress happens when the country’s gross national product increases, when exports exceeds our imports and the balance of payments improves. In simplistic terms, when the national revenues exceed our expenditures, when disposable income of our people increases, then economic progress occurs.

This year when Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo, the most loathed and unpopular Philippine president, after Dictator Marcos, is succeeded supposedly by another president on June 30th this year, the Filipino people becomes irrationally hopeful and blindly optimistic that their lives will be better. The average Filipino voter believes that his vote will change the country YET, there is that lingering suspicion among the more educated and sophisticated population that there is a great possibility of a “failure of election” of the national officers due to the futility of the automation of the election process. This fear is founded upon many factors such as the complicity of those in power, to inefficiency of the COMELEC , the questionable Smartmatic machines, lack of adequate training of teachers in using these new computers, the influence of a biased pro GMA military establishment and even a Supreme Court whose members were all appointed (by then) by the Dona of Malacanang who now wants to be a Congresswoman hoping to become the next Prime Minister if her dreams would ever come true.

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The presidential campaigns have started to heat up, causing expected mud slinging of all the candidates against their opponents. With the wonders of the internet and the instant communication of Twitter and FaceBook, the Filipino people all over the world can have instant information of who is UP or who is DOWN in the surveys. I believe the contest will eventually be between Senator Manny (MONEY) Villar and Senator Noynoy (BINATA) Aquino. It appears that the great wealth of Villar may prove as too much weight to prevent him from rising in the surveys as more and more people start questioning how he amassed his great wealth from his Tondo beginnings as a fish vendor. On the other hand, the lack of spectacular achievements of Noynoy as a congressman and senator and his non-assertive personality and the perception of having a personality that can be easily manipulated by those around him (as many took advantage of the naivete of his mother during her presidency) may be the major challenges that Sen. Aquino must overcome .

Like the Obama campaign in the USA, however, the # 1 campaign slogan is “CHANGE” from a perceived corrupt Arroyo administration to another administration that promises to be the exact opposite. On this criteria alone, Senator Aquino appears to be winning the presidential contests as more and more media personalities, including popular columnists, like the Inquirer’s De Quiros and Montelibano, PhilSTAR’s Esposo and Malaya’s Banayo, (and many others that I may not even know) are drawn to him, and often verbalize their preference to his candidacy, as a battle between “Good vs. Evil” .

The election is less than four months away, but if the trend continues, the Philippines would have Noynoy Aquino as the next president (who like his mother never intended to become a candidate but became a president by accident aka “destiny”) comes May 10th 2010, UNLESS there is a “failure of election” due to the massive questionable voting processes in Mindanao, reminiscent of the Maquindanao voting of 12-0 results in favor of one dominant party.

Will this lingering fear of a“ Failure of Election” become a self-fulfilling prophecy? Only God knows, and time will tell us on or before June 30, 2010!

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Email columnist: ernie.delfin@gmail.com or drbannatiran@yahoo.com