ISSUE
ANALYSIS No. 01
Series of 2010
2010:
Signs of hope and disquiet
A
priority agenda of the new government is to restore faith in government
by mending the institutions that were undermined by the outgoing
regime.
By the Policy Study, Publication, and Advocacy
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
January 8, 2010
As the country opens a new year in its political life, one explores
for a breath of hope and optimism. But optimism is borne out of
one’s ability to grapple with the problems that lie ahead
and events that will yet unfold. The roots of these realities –
others call it uncertainties - took shape in the year just past
and even farther back.
Much awaited
in the political sphere is the holding of the synchronized national
and local elections on May 10. In the elections, some 16,655 elective
positions are up for grabs by at least 90,000 candidates with about
48 million voters expected to troop to the polls.
Three major concerns
foreshadow some electoral woes, however. First, is the absence of
clear and well-articulated platforms that distinguish each presidential
aspirant from the others. Second, is the incumbent President’s
undisguised greed to stay in power – still at the helm of
it – through a different track. And third, are the slips and
blunders involving the preparations for the first fully-automated
national elections.
Four months to
the polls, the average voter remains undecided on who to vote for
in the presidential race. Although this puzzle may be untangled
a few weeks before the election, such voting behavior is likely
due to an increasing belief that whatever is the outcome of the
presidential race makes no difference anymore either to public governance
or to people’s lives.
The presidential
aspirants should show a lucid electoral platform and prove convincingly
that their candidacy is driven not just by the mere replacement
of a highly-discredited president but by the need to institute meaningful
reform. They should show their record of performance and be transparent
about their financial, political, and other ties. Given, however,
the candidates’ penchant to wage their campaign with a media
publicity of sights and sounds without substance there is not much
hope in this area.
Inconsequential
Just the same,
whoever will be elected as new president will likely be inconsequential
or his powers shared by the outgoing president in a new arrangement.
Once elected as a congresswoman in her home province of Pampanga,
Gloria M. Arroyo is expected to get the House speakership en route
to the post of Prime Minister via a charter change. There is, however,
a big IF to this scenario: Arroyo must ensure that the still dominant
Kampi-Lakas-CMD coalition will retain the majority in the lower
House as well as the LGUs in the provinces.
Meantime, there
are major gridlocks to the holding of the automated elections. Twenty
of these have been singled out by the Automated Election System
(AES) Watch, a new formation of citizens’ groups and individuals
which is monitoring the Commission on Elections (Comelec) preparations.
Among the urgent concerns are the system’s lack of transparency
(absence of voters’ verifiability), possible transmission
failures, lack of a geographical information system (GIS), and loss
of the BEIs’ right to generate their own passwords. The Comelec
failed to submit its report to Congress on January 4 on the state
of preparedness for the coming elections. Without adequate safeguards
installed and fraud machineries checked, the likelihood of automated
cheating or failure of election is high. The political repercussions
are grave enough as to raise alarms that the elections will likely
result in a constitutional crisis leading to a holdover presidency.
Assuming elections
will push through with manageable glitches, the challenge confronting
the new president – and his government – is formidable.
A priority agenda is to restore faith in government by mending the
institutions that were undermined by the incumbent president including
the lack of accountability, a corruption-ridden bureaucracy, abuse
of presidential power, an ineffective justice system, human rights
violations, and so on. The restoration of accountability should
begin with the litigation of the sitting president’s alleged
wrongdoings and constitutional transgressions.
Political
clans
Having been for
decades the backbone of the country’s traditional political
infrastructure, the system of political dynasties and its worst
form – warlodism with a culture of impunity that is exemplified
by the Maguindanao massacre – will stay for awhile. Political
clans will continue their hold on Congress, the executive office,
local governments, and even the judiciary. Their hegemony will,
however, be steadily challenged by change- and reform-oriented political
forces in both chambers of Congress and in the LGUs.
If there’s
anything new that deserves much anticipation in 2010, it is the
role to be played by reform-minded, cause-oriented groups and the
“civil society” movement. Reforms that respond meaningfully
to the demands for effective leadership and governance as well as
wide-ranging social and economic reforms need a more assertive social
movement. Reforms cannot be left in the hands of traditional politics
not only because the powers that be have failed miserably to provide
an effective, results-oriented leadership but also because they
have been precisely the source of the country’s political,
social, and economic disintegration.
Transformation
can only be actualized by those long marginalized not only from
political participation but also from social and economic opportunities.
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