Doomed to be in thrall?

Manny Valdehuesa

DEMOCRACY in our society is severely tested every election period. Electoral aberrations abound. Corruption festers. The dysfunctional party system bedevils rather than facilitates candidate selection and differentiation.

Who can believe that democratic processes and genuine party politics are in operation in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, or Northern Mindanao? Or that there are real parties at all?

In fact, there are no genuine political parties in our city, province, and region—or even in the nation. What’s in place is shameless politics dominated by traditional politicians, or trapos.

The so-called parties are not even democratic institutions. They are closed associations. Personalistic and opportunistic, they are mechanisms contrived by the patriarch to enhance vanity and out-sized ego.

And they accommodate only favored personalities, usually the wealthy and the ones already enjoying the advantage of nameecognition or popularity.

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The way trapos dominate Philippine politics is appalling. Their governing style and their values permeate governance at every level—exemplified by the way the Ampatuans exploited Magindanao, spreading the tentacles of their dynasty and crony network throughout the jurisdiction, aggrandizing power and wealth.

In our backyard, the Ampatuan model resonates in the politics of Vicente Emano, Jose Zubiri, and even Julio Uy and the Guingonas.

What’s reprehensible is that these oligarchs and their dynasties are able to assert, maintain, and perpetuate their dominance right under the noses of supposedly decent citizens.

It’s as if there are no educated or upright people among their constituency. Worse, they are able to co-opt the support, services, or cooperation of professionals—people supposedly independent-minded, intelligent, and beyond the commerce of sycophancy and corruption.

How does one explain the sycophancy of a Ramon Tabor, an Adrian Barba, or an Alden Bacal? One can understand the malleability of an Ian Acenas or an Elipe with a pretentious name and a prize political conquest for a wife.

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No less unbelievable, how can such “professionals” feed on the dubious judgment and thoroughly selfish motives of a dropout like Emano?

It’s as if the electorate—Filipinos with pretensions at being sophisticated and knowledgeable—know no better. This pathetic situation will remain as long as educated Filipinos remain passive or ignorant of the nature of their citizenship.

It’s not possible for college graduates not to know they are sovereign citizens; that their individual and collective will is what matters; and that if they would, they can influence arrangements, events, and behavior in their community, including throw out their misbehaving public servants.

Is it possible that they don’t know the effects of trapo dominance upon the community and society at large? Do they have any appreciation of their being an important part of the community, and that they must be concerned about its welfare and integrity.

After all the years of alleged independence, freedom, and education our people seem bereft of discretion or sense of discrimination about leadership in a democracy. Are we doomed to be in thrall to trapos?

 (Author of books on governance, Manny Valdehuesa is national chairman and convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc.  valdehuesa@gmail.com)