The Banana Republic?

Will the future of the Philippines ever be bright? Will we even have a future?

If I wrote this piece two days ago, it would’ve exactly been a year since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Rizal Day declaration that she would not seek reelection for the presidency in 2004. Right now, GMA is squabbling with her rivals – fighting tooth, nail, and mole – to win the country’s hearts in the upcoming May 10 polls. Funny it seems that a broken promise doesn’t seem to bother Arroyo and her God-knows-what plans, when in fact she told a big lie. That lie she made on December 2003 has probably sent our national hero rolling in his grave, cursing GMA for tainting the day of his defining moment. But most importantly, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has misled the whole nation into believing that even in these times of greed and corruption, there is still hope for the Philippines. Well, there’s hope no more – she’s one of ‘them people’ too.

But as they say, mighty people are also mere humans, like us. Sure. Can we expect more of ‘humanlike’ qualities in Mrs. Arroyo in the following months? Her term also has its share of scandals – the Jose Pidal controversy (the issue which amazingly disappeared like smoke because of the sensational ‘Kris and Joey’ TV hit), the ‘expensive but not overpriced’ Diosdado Macapagal Highway, fugitive Mark Jimenez’s alleged bribery to Justice Secretary Nani Perez (which caused the latter to resign), the GSIS’ vanished funds (and yet they could afford and $10M painting on their gallery…), Mikey Arroyo’s business escapades… the list goes on. Still, I can’t wait until GMA does the “Otso-otso” dance in her campaign.

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Speaking of campaigns, ‘Da King’ Fernando Poe Jr. has finally filed his certificate of candidacy for the presidential race. Makes no surprise at all – he reminds me of that guy who won in California (well, by now I guess you know who that person is…) ‘coz he’s got the star power, the ‘producers’ (or should I say, the ‘Kingmakers’), and the dough. And just like Governator Ah-nuld, Poe goes Panday… offering you an alternative as the year’s “Palitan na ang TraPo” main man. And I’ve got to admit, FPJ is the guy to beat.

But then, even if Poe’s got the guns, is he really a viable candidate for the race? He unabashedly declared his campaign in early December (that put the Philippines in a temporary state of shock), and in the following weeks he has become the Invisible Man – ducking away from reporters and crowds, and being a no-show in gatherings… he couldn’t stand the heat! These actions alone seem pretty un-presidential, not being able to face the criticism. And why is the opposition so much into backing FPJ? They’ve been calling the shots ever since. Could this mean that if their candidate wins, they’ll get a big slice of the cake? Certainly. My fear is that they’re using FPJ as a scapegoat for their own advantage. Being a political novice, FPJ doesn’t know what the system really is… and lets the ‘seasoned’ ones make the decisions. These men are the so-called “power behind the throne”, and thus sadly, the beginning of the end. Just a theory…

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And now, we move on to the running mates… there’s the “Battle of the Broadcasters” with Noli de Castro and Loren Legarda at the forefront. The FPJ-Loren team-up seems odd, while the GMA-Noli ticket sounds like a tactic. I just wonder how they’ll fare once elected. Could they be reading from the teleprompters?

Have you noticed how many celebrities are running for public office? From the presidentiable to the gubernatorial and all the way down, there are stars (rising, fallen or otherwise) having an eye for the political arena. What’s the fascination with celebrity figures? I wouldn’t be surprised if by 2020, our government will be run by Sharon Cuneta or Kris Aquino. Can’t the country learn from its mistakes? We have experienced havoc with former President Joseph Estrada. That time, it started a huge fire. Does the country need a catastrophe to finally wake up from its dream?

In the very near future, we, the youth, will have a hand in ultimately deciding the fate of our nation. The advertisements tell us, “Vote wisely.” But vote for whom? Nearly every public servant’s record is stripped off of its integrity. No one keeps their promises, and we aren’t that young to know that corruption is ever-present in the government. Whoever said that democracy couldn’t be practiced in this country is absolutely true – we are (admit it or not) a messed-up nation.

But for now, let the mudslinging begin…

(Note: This piece was written on January 2, 2004. So perhaps this time things are starting to heat up…)

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Note: This article appeared in The Judenites, Jan-Feb 2004.
(as Features Editor).

** It also emerged as the 1st place winner in the Feature Writing English category at the Quintin Yuyitung Awards for Outstanding Student Journalism, awarded July 24, 2004.