Mariano Carrasco
THAT last election was clearly the dirtiest and most corrupt ever. The buying and selling of votes was done openly and publicly, shamelessly, and in total disregard of the law and the authorities, including the Comelec, Namfrel, PPCRV, and the police. It was shocking.
Vote-sellers were milling around barangay halls and certain areas like worms feeding on political meat. What shocks us most is that almost everybody,, including the Comelec and the electoral watchdogs, the religious authorities, and the mass media (except Gold Star Daily and perhaps a few others), never noticed or commented about the massive vote-buying not only in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental, but nationwide.
What happened is a mirror of a massive social decay, sad to say. Even the Philippine Daily Inquirer did not seem to notice the massive vote-buying, and even headlined that there was no poll fraud according to the Comelec. No poll fraud? Isn’t giving money to the voters to influence them into voting for the candidates not a trickery or fraud?
Pete Lavina, Duterte’s spokesperson from Davao City, is a friend. He was an activist and was Bayan Secretary-General during our protest days back in the 1980s. But I don’t think he truly believes that Duterte can carry out his programs for social change without opposition from the elite. Duterte ostentatiously despises the elite, the landlord, big business and American corporate giants, but he knows deep inside that the elite will eliminate and oppose him every inch of the way if he threatens their interests.
Meantime, to remain alive and in power, Duterte must try to assuage the elite, and seemingly cooperate with them, and even seduce them with the idea that the the CPP-NPA will surrender the armed struggle under his regime.
But now, everybody is alert, including the elite, watching and guarding every smile, glance, tongue-movement, and wink of President Rody, the unusual and unexpected president. ‘
Should Noynoy Aquino, Butch Abad, and Nognog be sent to prison or not? Should he release the political prisoners to show sincerity towards reconciliation? That is the question being posed by the Left.
Would Duterte stay long in power? I have serious doubts. He should guard his back all the time. Yes, Virginia, a single bullet can finish him off (God forbid). If he does stay in power for long, it would only mean he had compromised his promises and succumbed to the power of the ruling class or elite.
At any rate, President Rody is only the chief executive, tasked with implementing the laws passed or to be passed and voted upon by Congress or the legislature. He is restrained by the elite in this manner since the legislature is dominated by big business, landlords, and jokers. He he.
(Mariano B. Carrasco is a lawyer based in Cagayan de Oro.)
