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Exercises of the Elite
By
Elmer A. Ordonez*
The Other View column, The Manila Rimes
September 12, 2009
Posted by CenPEG
I have long held that EDSA in 1986 marked the transfer of power
from one set of oligarchs to another and the restoration of supposedly
free elections, which, according to Fr. John Carroll, S.J. (“Building
from Above,” Inquirer, 8/10/09), “have historically
been exercises of the elite and for the elite.”
I generally avoid writing about presidential candidates—seeing
that the leading ones for 2010 are in the mold of traditional and
elite politicians.
Furthermore the ongoing election discourse does not touch on platforms
or programs of action except in a cursory way as in forums. Motherhood
statements are the norm, and the emphasis of media discussion is
on the personalities and character traits of putative standard bearers
of political groups.
Having witnessed a truly remarkable people display of love and devotion
for the departed first president after EDSA, we noted the ensuing
zeal for passing the torch to a reluctant heir. It seems the thrust
of the drive for him to run is to draw a stark contrast between
the incumbent and this opposition candidate and restore to the highest
position the qualities of humility and selflessness demonstrated
by his mother.
Now Noynoy Aquino, heir to his parents’ legacy, has announced
his candidacy which will give him the chance to demonstrate capability
and independence. The task at hand is to clean the Aegean stables
of Philippine politics and provide a moral center for reformists
to rally around.
The traditional political parties have more or less the same objective;
they are run by elites some of whose roots and vested interests
go back to colonial times. Others acquired their wealth more recently.
One elite interest is in land. Land reform has long been a shibboleth
in politics but has a genuine land reform bill been passed? Land
reform has always favored landed politicians.
Voters also need to know candidates’ positions on national
sovereignty, to hear them speak on the Visiting Forces Agreement
and Philippine foreign policy.
Will we be free of US/foreign domination? What about alien ownership
of Philippine land and property? Nationalist industrialization?
The culture of impunity among corrupt government officials and human
rights violators and torturers?
A few candidates are perceived to be “green” or advocates
of environmental protection. What will they do with strip mining
and continuing depredation of our diminishing forests reserves?
What about debt servicing that has taken up almost half of the national
budget and deprived funds for social services such as free or affordable
education, universal health care, cheaper medicines, expanded benefits
for the elderly and disabled.
These are just some concerns of =he electorate whose choices are
limited to elite or elite-supported candidates.
In sum, the media observers should go beyond personalities and press
the candidates and political parties to spell out specifics and
commitments for the 2010 elections. Ultimately it is again a bogus
choice for an electorate that has learned to play along with the
game of elite politicians. Somehow they had a choice in the 1992
election with Senator Salonga as the nationalist candidate, but
voters preferred trapos. Even if there were real choices (e.g. elite
v mass-based parties and candidates) today, majority of the voters
are still tied psychically to patronage from the elite or elite-minded
politicos.
Hence, the cycle continues. They elect a “promising”
candidate who in time turns out to be = dud or disappointment.
The long-term agenda for alternative politics is to break that psychic
bond between the ruling elites and the mass of the people.
Postscript to ‘Special =elations’
Our last piece “Special relations” has elicited responses
from readers notably one, a US-based reader of The Manila Times”
who, in an exchange with a local reader, turned out to be a major
in the US armed forces. The major faulted me for failing to mention
the “billions” of US dollars poured into Philippine
coffers only to be stolen by corrupt Filipino officials. What else
can one say?
Reader JM Nepomuceno has answered him point by point regarding the
sorry state of the government and the economy. The American major
concedes that the Filipino people should manage on their own without
US help while he predicts an “implosion” in a year’s
time. Are our elite politicians up to it—hacking it by ourselves,
without US aid”?
________________________
eaordonez2000@yahoo.com
*Columnist
Elmer Ordonez, PhD, is a member of CenPEG’s Board of Editors.
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