Looking at the results in the municipal level, one cannot avoid the conclusion that the challenge for change and reform did not make much relevance to Romblon voters’ choices in the May 10, 2010 elections.
This is in contrast to the big win in the provincial level, personified by governor-elect Lolong Firmalo and vice governor-elect Mel Madrid who, from the looks of it were catapulted to their positions on the strength of their principled stand for change and, if I may add, on the gravity of the people’s desire to banish back to Timbuktu the corrupt and irresponsible governor Natalio Beltran III.
It can be recalled that during the last three years, Beltran had been the consistent object of public scorn due to his gross mismanagement of the capitol. Add to this the fact that the young governor, while refusing to answer directly the criticisms against him, also dismissed these as “politically-motivated”, not knowing that such casual dismissal is the usual refuge of scoundrels.
That he was allied with Cong. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona and the unlamented former district engineer Dodoy Perez, who themselves are not without critics, made matters more untenable for change and reform in Romblon. A trio of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, and speak-no-evil politicians, thus, were ripe for the picking when the campaign for the elections started, so the pundits opined.
And so this was the situation that the reformists—Firmalo and his political ally, vice-governor Alice Fetalvero—faced. It was not so much of a change in policies, governance styles and political culture that they sought to effect. It was also the faces and personas of the current power holders that they sought to replace. It was the malignant tumor of corruption and indolence that they sought to excise.
But how deeply the municipal candidates of both the administration and opposition parties understood the relevance of the May 10 elections to the cause of change and reform could not be ascertained. It could be that they were aware of what were at stake. Or, it could be that they were not, but were only too willing to take sides and fight to hide their ignorance. Worse, they could not really care whether they knew or not.
In Alice’s and Lolong’s part, they knew. They knew too well that the May 10 polls would be a referendum on Madrona’s and Beltran’s performance, as well as a judgment on Perez’s idiocy. They knew that the three are formidable opponents, with access to huge election resources and entrenched grassroots machinery. And they knew that if they fail to dislodge the trio, chances are it will be impossible to unseat them in 2013.
In fact, anyone who is in his right political frame of mind will not dare fight Madrona—whether he is alone or in the company of highway robbers—without risking a big bruise—or a fat loss. I found this out in 2001.
Yet, for all Madrona’s perceived impregnability and commanding (broken) track record, he is not unbeatable. We all knew that Lolong out-dueled him in 2004. But even so, Alice and Lolong knew that they needed to rally on their camp as many municipal mayors as they could, for on them would hang the balance between failure and success of their change and reform crusade. If they win, and they don’t have any ally in the 17 municipalities, it would be next to impossible to carry on their new policies and programs.
Well, there is a danger this may be so, gauging from the results of the local races where Madrona won the battle and retained his grip on municipal politics. How?
It must be noted that Madrona was able to do this only because of his being a political chameleon. He always runs astride two or more political parties without the benefit of any formal coalition, an anomaly for which he is yet to be punished. He did it in 2001, 2004 and 2007. He did it again in 2010 with abominable results.
For instance, in the May 10 elections, he rode at the back of the Nacionalista Party and the Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats. This could have reinforced the suspicion that Manny Villar, Madrona’s patron, is the candidate of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, so much so that Villar lost heavily in Romblon. A different outcome could have arisen if Madrona chose only one party, although that is wishing for the moon.
This brings the question of who did Madrona campaigned for as president. Was it Gilberto Teodoro or Manny Villar? If it was Teodoro, then what makes Madrona and Secretary Bernie Fondevilla and his Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) candidates led by Alice Fetalvero who also campaigned for Teodoro? Weren’t they bedfellows, however strange?
If on the other hand, Madrona campaigned for Villar, as he must have promised when he and Gov. Beltran rushed to the NP’s headquarters after pledging allegiance to Teodoro, wasn’t this a betrayal of the highest order that deserves the voters’ outrage?
Apparently not, for Madrona’s mayors won in majority of Romblon’s 17 towns. These towns are Alcantara, Banton, Concepcion, Corcuera, Ferrol, Looc, Magdiwang, Romblon, San Agustin, San Jose, and Sta. Fe. The winners in these municipalities all filed their certificates of candidacy as members of Partido PaLaKa, the same party under which Madrona filed his CoC.
In the towns of Sta. Maria and San Andres, the winners are also Madrona’s lapdogs, but who filed their CoCs under the Nacionalista Party, under whose banner defeated vice gubernatorial candidate Rolindo Perez and SP members Sam Romero and Michael Arevalo also filed.
There is a Tagalog saying which goes this way: “Ang naghahangad ng kagitna, isang salop ang nawawala.”
I don’t know if this is true, but looking at Beltran’s and Perez’s defeat, as well as in the defeat of some of their SP candidates, Madrona’s gamble of embracing all available political parties just to ensure that he will have his cake and eat it too, backfired. Another way to look at it, though, is to say he was also successful. Tingnan natin.
Madrona’s mayors, save for a few, are the same old bunch of politicians that have stuck with him through thick and thin. Just sample the names: Madrona, Arboleda, Visca, Faderanga, Manzala, etc. They have been winning elections not because of their progressive leadership styles, or because they promise change, but because of their association and loyalty to Madrona.
They don’t have any record of spectacular achievements or of superior performance, if we use as a measure the socio-economic situation in their respective municipalities. In short, they are the same local traditional elites that resist intrusion into their self-proclaimed political fiefdoms. Pa-wardi-wardi. These elites do not regard lightly any attempt to erode their influence and, therefore, use all of their power to retain power.
One of the few exemptions is Concepcion Mayor Lemuel Cipriano, a non-trad Madrona convert whose industry and excellent leadership have brought Sibale to a record of growth and prosperity. The only thing that tars Cipriano’s accomplishments is his falling as victim to Madrona’s political double-talk. In the last election, he slugged it out with another Madrona acolyte, Adrian Feudo who, like Cipriano, was promised by Madrona “unlimited campaign support”. The promised support came in an empty “supot”. Unfortunately in Romblon today, there are still some, like Cipriano and Feudo, who are slow to learn of Madrona’s classic divide-and-rule tactic.
On the other hand, the cause of change and reform found a new adherent in Cajidiocan where Festo Galang Jr. slew a giant in Mayor Nicasio Ramos, another Madrona apostle. In Odiongan, Calatrava and San Fernando, progressive mayors in the persons of Baltazar Firmalo, Robert Fabella and Dindo Rios won.
Note that I did not say these “progressives” are Lolong Firmalo’s mayors. More likely, their loyalties are to their constituents who must have seen their performance during the time they were holding the reins of power.
For example, Mayor Firmalo of Odiongan has spectacularly transformed Odiongan into a progressive commercial enclave, while Mayor Fabella has won the hearts of Calatravanhons for his efforts at fostering food sufficiency and agricultural productivity.
In the end, whether or not the loyalties of these mayors are to Sec. Fondevilla or to Alice Fetalvero or to Lolong Firmalo hardly matter. What is important was that they were seen by the voters as change agents, and that’s a plus that Firmalo as governor should factor in his bid to change and transform Romblon’s cacique political culture into a modernist and non-traditional one.
But as experience tells us, local politics is characterized by atrophy and a seemingly immovable resistance to change. However, local politics has also the character of impermanence in personal relationships. So, I am sure that when the dust of the May 10 election settles, we may yet to see political re-alignments that would change the balance of the political equation in Romblon.
The re-alignments will most likely involve Madrona’s mayors who, knowing that a Noynoy Aquino is a Firmalo ally, would think twice about NOT going with the current. Those who will go against the tide could do so at their own peril. It would be like committing hara-kiri or seppuku without the cha-no-yu, or tea ceremony.
So, Madrona, while having the upper hand at the moment in the municipal level, should not fall asleep but watch his rear. So does Firmalo. He, as governor, should not lose precious opportunity to enlist more mayors, vice mayors, and councilors, even barangay captains. This is the only way he can effectively move forward his agenda for change and reform which the present representative and his cohorts, particularly Gov. Beltran, has been holding back for obvious reasons.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Romblon's disjointed opposition
Now that the election is over, I can bare my chest off on some issues left unsaid during the campaign.
They were left unsaid because of strategic reasons; more so because I didn’t want Rep. Madrona and company to capitalize on these issues and use them against vice governor Alice Fetalvero and former representative Lolong Firmalo.
One of these things that perhaps Alice’s and Lolong’s opponents didn’t know was the fact that the opposition in Romblon was far from united as others believed it were.
Yes, Virginia, there was no united opposition to the Madrona-Beltran-Perez troika during the campaign. The “united” was “disjointed”, unorganized and in disarray. Had Madrona and Beltran knew it, they might have pounced on Alice and Lolong and the outcome of the election might have been different.
The “disunity” was fostered by no less than Secretary Bernie Fondevilla who had only contempt and immense dislike for Firmalo. It was actually Fondevilla who drove a wedge between the opposition in Romblon by being selective in dispensing his goodies only to allies who bow before him.
Last year, when the Alice-Lolong team was looking for a party, it was Fondevilla who orchestrated the oath-taking of Fetalvero and several of Firmalo’s mayors before the Nationalist People’s Coalition, despite the very fact that the NPC had no presidential candidate.
These mayors, such as Juliet Ngo Fiel of Looc, Dr. Fernald Rovillos of San Andres, and Bong Fabella of Calatrava, orchestrated with vice governor Fetalvero, SP member Mel Madrid, Atty. Jim Fondevilla and a few others in exerting pressure to Firmalo for him to also join the NPC, despite the fact that Firmalo had earlier swore his oath of party affiliation with the Liberal Party. It was reported that even Mayor Fabella had allegedly said in public he will not campaign for Firmalo.
Well, they had reason to pressure Firmalo because, sadly, the former representative himself did not inform them he was joining the LP. They begrudged the doctor for “going it all alone.”
But this was only a minor matter. Of grave import was the question of who was wielding the baton over Fetalvero et al. The answer was Bernie Fondevilla who, while undersecretary of agriculture aspiring to become secretary vice his boss, the controversial Arthur Yap, was already playing politics. Question: Did President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at that time know that Fondevilla was playing footsie with the NPC, and not with Lakas-NUCD which supported Gilberto Teodoro? Probably not.
So, the opposition in Romblon went in two separate ways—one going with Alice Fetalvero who filed her candidacy as NPC, and one going with Lolong Firmalo who, with second district SP member Benjamin Irao Jr. and another SP aspirant Dr. Venizar Maravilla, filed as LP. In the first district, only Rodne Galicha remained in Noynoy Aquino’s party.
Prior to the campaign, efforts were made to patch up the opposition to no avail. Playing a pivotal role in ensuring that a “unity ticket” materializes in Romblon was Dr. Tato Sison who initiated meetings between the Fetalvero and Firmalo camps.
Sure, both Alice and Lolong showed no animosity towards each other, but that was only in the surface. At the backrooms, there were obvious attempts, particularly on the part of the mayors to “ostracize” or even isolate Firmalo.
That there was no single campaign organization, no campaign plan, no campaign headquarters, and no campaign message for the opposition was indication of this disunity. Even the campaign color, which was supposed to be yellow, was dispensed with, with the group coming out with the red color which it justified as indicative of the group’s “fighting” or “palaban” stance.
Prior to the campaign, I said that the division of the opposition along two parties will pose problems. True enough, when the campaign began, Bernie Fondevilla asserted himself mightily as the man in charge to the consternation of Fetalvero. I heard that in the dispensation of campaign resources, Fondevilla directly distributed money to the mayors, not to Fetalvero, so much so that her campaign manager, Ramon Reandelar, when asked about his plans, allegedly could only answer in desperation, “I am only an office boy here,” showing his helplessness due to lack of funds for the Fetalvero campaign.
Before the election, I said that because Fetalvero et al were kowtowing to Sec. Fondevilla’s wishes, chances are that the Fetalvero congressional campaign will be seen as very dependent upon the whim and caprices of Fondevilla, and this will not sit well with the voters.
True enough, and as the results of the election will show, Madrona’s margin over Fetalvero was such that one would think Bernie Fondevilla deliberately played his card for Alice Fetalvero to lose. This is possible, because Bernie Fondevilla, as I have observed before, is entertaining a dream bigger than himself. He might challenge Madrona in 2013.
Unfortunately for Bernie, the platform from which he could launch his challenge is now punctured with large holes largely due to his ill-conceived strategy of isolating Firmalo and casting his fortune with a loser like Gilberto Teodoro. Also, unfortunately, his mayors and SP candidates who joined him in trying to belittle Firmalo heavily lost in their own bids. That’s karma.
That’s also a monumental mistake on the part of the opposition. And what is this mistake? It is to wage a campaign for reform based solely on the motivation of the alleged availability of campaign resources from Bernie Fondevilla, and not on the efficacy of the Romblon reform agenda. That’s beginning a right cause on the wrong foot.
The signs were easy to recognize. The May 10, 2010 election is a banner year for the opposition. The drama that was sure to be played was the battle of epic proportion between good and evil, lightness and darkness, good governance and ineptness, honesty and corruption, compassion and abuse, reform and the status quo, and progressive and the traditional.
Had Alice and his mayors didn’t misread these signs, they would not have sided with Bernie Fondevilla.
Had they, as advised, hewed consistently on the themes of the yellow revolution—the slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and the genuine change and reform agenda, the outcome would have been different.
Had they not danced to the traditional political music of Bernie Fondevilla, who is out of touch with ground realities, the outcome would have been that Budoy Madrona could be now licking his wounds like Beltran, her mayors would have renewed their respective mandates, and the opposition would have been more united.
But those are “ifs”--supposition--fit only for discussion. As I said, the election is over, so let’s begin the campaign for the election of 2013 by working hard for the people of Romblon.
Good luck to us.
They were left unsaid because of strategic reasons; more so because I didn’t want Rep. Madrona and company to capitalize on these issues and use them against vice governor Alice Fetalvero and former representative Lolong Firmalo.
One of these things that perhaps Alice’s and Lolong’s opponents didn’t know was the fact that the opposition in Romblon was far from united as others believed it were.
Yes, Virginia, there was no united opposition to the Madrona-Beltran-Perez troika during the campaign. The “united” was “disjointed”, unorganized and in disarray. Had Madrona and Beltran knew it, they might have pounced on Alice and Lolong and the outcome of the election might have been different.
The “disunity” was fostered by no less than Secretary Bernie Fondevilla who had only contempt and immense dislike for Firmalo. It was actually Fondevilla who drove a wedge between the opposition in Romblon by being selective in dispensing his goodies only to allies who bow before him.
Last year, when the Alice-Lolong team was looking for a party, it was Fondevilla who orchestrated the oath-taking of Fetalvero and several of Firmalo’s mayors before the Nationalist People’s Coalition, despite the very fact that the NPC had no presidential candidate.
These mayors, such as Juliet Ngo Fiel of Looc, Dr. Fernald Rovillos of San Andres, and Bong Fabella of Calatrava, orchestrated with vice governor Fetalvero, SP member Mel Madrid, Atty. Jim Fondevilla and a few others in exerting pressure to Firmalo for him to also join the NPC, despite the fact that Firmalo had earlier swore his oath of party affiliation with the Liberal Party. It was reported that even Mayor Fabella had allegedly said in public he will not campaign for Firmalo.
Well, they had reason to pressure Firmalo because, sadly, the former representative himself did not inform them he was joining the LP. They begrudged the doctor for “going it all alone.”
But this was only a minor matter. Of grave import was the question of who was wielding the baton over Fetalvero et al. The answer was Bernie Fondevilla who, while undersecretary of agriculture aspiring to become secretary vice his boss, the controversial Arthur Yap, was already playing politics. Question: Did President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at that time know that Fondevilla was playing footsie with the NPC, and not with Lakas-NUCD which supported Gilberto Teodoro? Probably not.
So, the opposition in Romblon went in two separate ways—one going with Alice Fetalvero who filed her candidacy as NPC, and one going with Lolong Firmalo who, with second district SP member Benjamin Irao Jr. and another SP aspirant Dr. Venizar Maravilla, filed as LP. In the first district, only Rodne Galicha remained in Noynoy Aquino’s party.
Prior to the campaign, efforts were made to patch up the opposition to no avail. Playing a pivotal role in ensuring that a “unity ticket” materializes in Romblon was Dr. Tato Sison who initiated meetings between the Fetalvero and Firmalo camps.
Sure, both Alice and Lolong showed no animosity towards each other, but that was only in the surface. At the backrooms, there were obvious attempts, particularly on the part of the mayors to “ostracize” or even isolate Firmalo.
That there was no single campaign organization, no campaign plan, no campaign headquarters, and no campaign message for the opposition was indication of this disunity. Even the campaign color, which was supposed to be yellow, was dispensed with, with the group coming out with the red color which it justified as indicative of the group’s “fighting” or “palaban” stance.
Prior to the campaign, I said that the division of the opposition along two parties will pose problems. True enough, when the campaign began, Bernie Fondevilla asserted himself mightily as the man in charge to the consternation of Fetalvero. I heard that in the dispensation of campaign resources, Fondevilla directly distributed money to the mayors, not to Fetalvero, so much so that her campaign manager, Ramon Reandelar, when asked about his plans, allegedly could only answer in desperation, “I am only an office boy here,” showing his helplessness due to lack of funds for the Fetalvero campaign.
Before the election, I said that because Fetalvero et al were kowtowing to Sec. Fondevilla’s wishes, chances are that the Fetalvero congressional campaign will be seen as very dependent upon the whim and caprices of Fondevilla, and this will not sit well with the voters.
True enough, and as the results of the election will show, Madrona’s margin over Fetalvero was such that one would think Bernie Fondevilla deliberately played his card for Alice Fetalvero to lose. This is possible, because Bernie Fondevilla, as I have observed before, is entertaining a dream bigger than himself. He might challenge Madrona in 2013.
Unfortunately for Bernie, the platform from which he could launch his challenge is now punctured with large holes largely due to his ill-conceived strategy of isolating Firmalo and casting his fortune with a loser like Gilberto Teodoro. Also, unfortunately, his mayors and SP candidates who joined him in trying to belittle Firmalo heavily lost in their own bids. That’s karma.
That’s also a monumental mistake on the part of the opposition. And what is this mistake? It is to wage a campaign for reform based solely on the motivation of the alleged availability of campaign resources from Bernie Fondevilla, and not on the efficacy of the Romblon reform agenda. That’s beginning a right cause on the wrong foot.
The signs were easy to recognize. The May 10, 2010 election is a banner year for the opposition. The drama that was sure to be played was the battle of epic proportion between good and evil, lightness and darkness, good governance and ineptness, honesty and corruption, compassion and abuse, reform and the status quo, and progressive and the traditional.
Had Alice and his mayors didn’t misread these signs, they would not have sided with Bernie Fondevilla.
Had they, as advised, hewed consistently on the themes of the yellow revolution—the slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and the genuine change and reform agenda, the outcome would have been different.
Had they not danced to the traditional political music of Bernie Fondevilla, who is out of touch with ground realities, the outcome would have been that Budoy Madrona could be now licking his wounds like Beltran, her mayors would have renewed their respective mandates, and the opposition would have been more united.
But those are “ifs”--supposition--fit only for discussion. As I said, the election is over, so let’s begin the campaign for the election of 2013 by working hard for the people of Romblon.
Good luck to us.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The boat that Budoy is rowing is sinking in the river he is drowning
The story went like this:
On the afternoon of April 20, Rep. Eleandro Jesus Fabic Madrona, Romblon’s most successful political butterfly, joined a group of congressmen belonging to PaLaKa (Partido Lakas-Kampi) at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City to demonstrate its show of support to PaLaKa official presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Hours later, on the same day, Rep. Madrona, like a toad, jumped to the camp of NP presidential candidate Manuel Villar and right there and then, with another toad in tow in the person of Romblon’s most despised governor, Natalio Beltran III, took his oath as an NP member. Madrona and Beltran were accompanied in the oath-taking by16 other toadies, or palakpak boys, one of whom was a classmate in high school, Adrian Feudo, a mayoralty candidate.
End of story?
Nah. There is more to it than this party-hopping, ship-jumping, boat-rowing tandem meets the eye.
So listen, you unsuspecting, politician-worshipping, readers of the Romblon Sun and I’ll deliver a blow-by-blow account of what I read behind the scenes of this story which made it to Page 1 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The reporters who filed the story, TJ Burgonio, a bespectacled Senate beat reporter, and Jhunnex Napallacan of the Inquirer’s Visayas bureau, tell us that Madrona did not return their calls to give his side of the story. Instead, it was another controversial Budoy toady, San Fernando mayor Nanette Tansingco, who spoke on Madrona’s behalf.
Tansingco said Madrona was ruing the fact that he and his candidates were not receiving any money from PaLaKa, hence their transfer. “The funds aren’t trickling down to our level; we’re not being given agriculture projects. And we are the administration candidates.”
So, it’s all about money as I have suspected all along. But wait, where did Madrona spend the millions in pork barrel funds, including his ‘tip’ for voting against the Con-Ass bill, he had amassed over the last three years? Naubos sa buyang?
It turned out Madrona had a valid complaint. PaLaKa secretary-general Rey Roquero said Madrona was complaining about Agriculture secretary Bernie Fondevilla’s allegedly campaigning for his nemesis, Vice Governor Alice Fetalvero.
Ah, Bernie Fondevilla, why did you suddenly materialize in this drama? I thought you are a bureaucrat, a non-politician, but did Budoy suddenly dragged you out in the streets? Are you, as Budoy was complaining, campaigning for Fetalvero?
Yes, you are, I suppose. I remember you have been giving away pump boat machines and other agriculture goodies before the campaign, with Alice Fetalvero and some mayor-friends as conduit. Many in my town of Sibale even received the ‘dole-out’. Did you also distribute ice-making machines which your patron, former secretary Arthur Yap, bought at very expensive prices?
I don’t know how you will react to Madrona’s accusation, but the guy was hurting. Very badly, I suppose, because Romblon’s first agriculture secretary does not love the incumbent congressman, siding instead with its well-loved vice governor. Turn of events, or turn of the wheel of fortunes. Aren't you two bosom friends before?
The equation is complete; the picture perfect. The showdown is inevitable. Fetalvero, an NPC stalwart, is getting help from all corners, including from a supposed to be non-political secretary of agriculture. Ranged against this line-up is Madrona’s army, with Beltran as barker and former DPWH district engineer Dodoy Perez, the apparition-prone but cockfight aficionado, as lieutenant.
I almost forgot another cast on Fetalvero’s camp. He is Lolong Firmalo, a doctor--often painted into a corner by his detractors for his unpredictable political mind--and incumbent SP member Mel Madrid.
But this is not about Bernie Fondevilla, or Alice Fetalvero, or Lolong Firmalo. This is about Budoy and Beltran changing boats in the middle of a boat race and navigating on two rivers.
Is there something surprising in this? None. Budoy is so used to fooling national politicians about his loyalties that he has been to all major political parties hereabouts. He is so good at political drama that even the likes of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile once complained to me about his unorthodox money-making abilities: he promised to support JPE and then dumped him after obtaining his support. Name it and Budoy has been a member of this or that political party. It’s second skin to him to switch loyalties. He is a political chameleon, with the ability to change colors at a moment’s notice.
“Ang madalas manumpa ay kasumpa-sumpa.” Guess who said that. It was former Cavite governor Juanito Remulla who blurted that out when some of his staunchest allies in the regional party, Magdalo, switched from his party to Lakas in 1997 to fight him. Magdalo, in the elections of 1998, decimated in the polls all those that abandoned Remulla.
There is a very near possibility that Madrona, Beltran, Perez and their 16 mayors will be massacred in the May 10 election by the opposition forces led by Fetalvero and Firmalo. If this happens, then Remulla’s prophetic words will be affirmed once again. If this happens, Madrona will only have himself to blame.
For abandoning a sinking ship like a rat, Budoy is courting disaster. He might drown. Beltran and Perez combined cannot save him. Both are in themselves drowning and are in deep s_ _t.
And Budoy’s mayors? Here is a very safe prediction. In the moment of Alice’s and Lolong’s triumph, they will troop to the victor’s camp faster than I can write two sentences. They will abandon Budoy and when that happens, truly that will be the irony of ironies in this truly sordid episode. I will bet my gin money on this. These mayors, after all, are traditional politicians to the core. They can’t be trusted in their words.
Of course, Bernie, regardless of his protestation that he is not involved, will celebrate—no, laugh in glee—if and when Fetalvero becomes congresswoman. He will claim credit as the architect of the victory. Is Bernie Fondevilla a member of the NPC? If he is not, why is PGMA allowing him to distribute agriculture goodies to non-PaLaKa members? Well, the information is ripe that when Bernie went to Calatrava a few weeks ago, he summoned Fetalvero's mayors and asked them to support Gibo. The opposition in Romblon is for Gibo, not Noynoy, not Villar, not Erap!
And in that moment of victory, the people who voted for the opposition will be forgotten, I hope only temporarily, for since when traditional politicians acknowledge the masses in the aftermath of a successful revolution?
More than often, they are left whistling in the dark, holding an empty bag. Say this ain’t so, Fetalvero. Say this ain’t so, Firmalo. As for Bernie, just wait, hijo, until June 30.
On the afternoon of April 20, Rep. Eleandro Jesus Fabic Madrona, Romblon’s most successful political butterfly, joined a group of congressmen belonging to PaLaKa (Partido Lakas-Kampi) at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City to demonstrate its show of support to PaLaKa official presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Hours later, on the same day, Rep. Madrona, like a toad, jumped to the camp of NP presidential candidate Manuel Villar and right there and then, with another toad in tow in the person of Romblon’s most despised governor, Natalio Beltran III, took his oath as an NP member. Madrona and Beltran were accompanied in the oath-taking by16 other toadies, or palakpak boys, one of whom was a classmate in high school, Adrian Feudo, a mayoralty candidate.
End of story?
Nah. There is more to it than this party-hopping, ship-jumping, boat-rowing tandem meets the eye.
So listen, you unsuspecting, politician-worshipping, readers of the Romblon Sun and I’ll deliver a blow-by-blow account of what I read behind the scenes of this story which made it to Page 1 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The reporters who filed the story, TJ Burgonio, a bespectacled Senate beat reporter, and Jhunnex Napallacan of the Inquirer’s Visayas bureau, tell us that Madrona did not return their calls to give his side of the story. Instead, it was another controversial Budoy toady, San Fernando mayor Nanette Tansingco, who spoke on Madrona’s behalf.
Tansingco said Madrona was ruing the fact that he and his candidates were not receiving any money from PaLaKa, hence their transfer. “The funds aren’t trickling down to our level; we’re not being given agriculture projects. And we are the administration candidates.”
So, it’s all about money as I have suspected all along. But wait, where did Madrona spend the millions in pork barrel funds, including his ‘tip’ for voting against the Con-Ass bill, he had amassed over the last three years? Naubos sa buyang?
It turned out Madrona had a valid complaint. PaLaKa secretary-general Rey Roquero said Madrona was complaining about Agriculture secretary Bernie Fondevilla’s allegedly campaigning for his nemesis, Vice Governor Alice Fetalvero.
Ah, Bernie Fondevilla, why did you suddenly materialize in this drama? I thought you are a bureaucrat, a non-politician, but did Budoy suddenly dragged you out in the streets? Are you, as Budoy was complaining, campaigning for Fetalvero?
Yes, you are, I suppose. I remember you have been giving away pump boat machines and other agriculture goodies before the campaign, with Alice Fetalvero and some mayor-friends as conduit. Many in my town of Sibale even received the ‘dole-out’. Did you also distribute ice-making machines which your patron, former secretary Arthur Yap, bought at very expensive prices?
I don’t know how you will react to Madrona’s accusation, but the guy was hurting. Very badly, I suppose, because Romblon’s first agriculture secretary does not love the incumbent congressman, siding instead with its well-loved vice governor. Turn of events, or turn of the wheel of fortunes. Aren't you two bosom friends before?
The equation is complete; the picture perfect. The showdown is inevitable. Fetalvero, an NPC stalwart, is getting help from all corners, including from a supposed to be non-political secretary of agriculture. Ranged against this line-up is Madrona’s army, with Beltran as barker and former DPWH district engineer Dodoy Perez, the apparition-prone but cockfight aficionado, as lieutenant.
I almost forgot another cast on Fetalvero’s camp. He is Lolong Firmalo, a doctor--often painted into a corner by his detractors for his unpredictable political mind--and incumbent SP member Mel Madrid.
But this is not about Bernie Fondevilla, or Alice Fetalvero, or Lolong Firmalo. This is about Budoy and Beltran changing boats in the middle of a boat race and navigating on two rivers.
Is there something surprising in this? None. Budoy is so used to fooling national politicians about his loyalties that he has been to all major political parties hereabouts. He is so good at political drama that even the likes of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile once complained to me about his unorthodox money-making abilities: he promised to support JPE and then dumped him after obtaining his support. Name it and Budoy has been a member of this or that political party. It’s second skin to him to switch loyalties. He is a political chameleon, with the ability to change colors at a moment’s notice.
“Ang madalas manumpa ay kasumpa-sumpa.” Guess who said that. It was former Cavite governor Juanito Remulla who blurted that out when some of his staunchest allies in the regional party, Magdalo, switched from his party to Lakas in 1997 to fight him. Magdalo, in the elections of 1998, decimated in the polls all those that abandoned Remulla.
There is a very near possibility that Madrona, Beltran, Perez and their 16 mayors will be massacred in the May 10 election by the opposition forces led by Fetalvero and Firmalo. If this happens, then Remulla’s prophetic words will be affirmed once again. If this happens, Madrona will only have himself to blame.
For abandoning a sinking ship like a rat, Budoy is courting disaster. He might drown. Beltran and Perez combined cannot save him. Both are in themselves drowning and are in deep s_ _t.
And Budoy’s mayors? Here is a very safe prediction. In the moment of Alice’s and Lolong’s triumph, they will troop to the victor’s camp faster than I can write two sentences. They will abandon Budoy and when that happens, truly that will be the irony of ironies in this truly sordid episode. I will bet my gin money on this. These mayors, after all, are traditional politicians to the core. They can’t be trusted in their words.
Of course, Bernie, regardless of his protestation that he is not involved, will celebrate—no, laugh in glee—if and when Fetalvero becomes congresswoman. He will claim credit as the architect of the victory. Is Bernie Fondevilla a member of the NPC? If he is not, why is PGMA allowing him to distribute agriculture goodies to non-PaLaKa members? Well, the information is ripe that when Bernie went to Calatrava a few weeks ago, he summoned Fetalvero's mayors and asked them to support Gibo. The opposition in Romblon is for Gibo, not Noynoy, not Villar, not Erap!
And in that moment of victory, the people who voted for the opposition will be forgotten, I hope only temporarily, for since when traditional politicians acknowledge the masses in the aftermath of a successful revolution?
More than often, they are left whistling in the dark, holding an empty bag. Say this ain’t so, Fetalvero. Say this ain’t so, Firmalo. As for Bernie, just wait, hijo, until June 30.
Monday, March 15, 2010
One honest woman gone
The story is told of the Greek mythical god Diogenes who goes from house to house in the middle of the day with a lighted lantern in hand and knocking on every one’s door.
When asked what he was doing, Diogenes replied that he was looking for an honest man.
In the Philippines, Diogenes would have stopped looking for his honest man once he’d knocked at Emilia T. Boncodin’s door. Just from the looks of the door, Diogenes would have known that the house’s occupant was honest.
And Emy, as the former Budget secretary was called by friends, is dead. She died of kidney failure at the age of 55, honest as she was when she first joined the government at age 18.
The Inquirer, in its news about Emy’s death, said Emy lived simply.
She did.
When the late Blas F. Ople, another honest man, was elected Senate President in 1998, one of the very first things he did was to ask Emy and her friend, Patricia A. Sto. Tomas, for a meeting at Ople’s office at the Marbella Condominium on Roxas Boulevard. Emy and Pat then were out of government, having resigned when Joseph Estrada took the reins of government after trouncing Jose de Venecia in the presidential election. Emy was teaching at the UP at the same time that she and Pat were doing consultancy work.
“We need honest people to help us in the Senate. Let us meet with Pat and Emy,” Ople told me in summoning the meeting. Also summoned were Willie B. Villarama, Art Brion, Fred dela Rosa, and Fred Rosario. All were Ople protégés and have worked with the country’s longest-serving labor and employment secretary.
Emy spoke softly and with conviction. On occasions when I visited her at her office in Malacanang to run errands for Ople, she saw me promptly, going straight to official business because she was so busy. The Department of Budget, where she served for the longest time, was a beehive and, as the official money adjunct of the government, a nest of whispered corruption. But under Emy’s captainship, it was run as a tight ship. No leak. No whiff of scandal. No corruption. Her honesty rubbed off on every body. Even her dress bespoke of her simplicity and honest living.
As budget official, she knew her work like no other, and Ople was astounded by her phenomenal command of the budget—its details and implications and the policies that govern it. She served gratis as Ople’s consultant in his Senate office, same with Pat, Willie, Art, and the rest of Ople’s people.
Emy is gone.
It might take a long time coming for another Emy, yet with her legacy of honesty in public service indelibly etched on in our memory Diogenes can take comfort and take a respite from knocking on doors looking for an honest man.
When asked what he was doing, Diogenes replied that he was looking for an honest man.
In the Philippines, Diogenes would have stopped looking for his honest man once he’d knocked at Emilia T. Boncodin’s door. Just from the looks of the door, Diogenes would have known that the house’s occupant was honest.
And Emy, as the former Budget secretary was called by friends, is dead. She died of kidney failure at the age of 55, honest as she was when she first joined the government at age 18.
The Inquirer, in its news about Emy’s death, said Emy lived simply.
She did.
When the late Blas F. Ople, another honest man, was elected Senate President in 1998, one of the very first things he did was to ask Emy and her friend, Patricia A. Sto. Tomas, for a meeting at Ople’s office at the Marbella Condominium on Roxas Boulevard. Emy and Pat then were out of government, having resigned when Joseph Estrada took the reins of government after trouncing Jose de Venecia in the presidential election. Emy was teaching at the UP at the same time that she and Pat were doing consultancy work.
“We need honest people to help us in the Senate. Let us meet with Pat and Emy,” Ople told me in summoning the meeting. Also summoned were Willie B. Villarama, Art Brion, Fred dela Rosa, and Fred Rosario. All were Ople protégés and have worked with the country’s longest-serving labor and employment secretary.
Emy spoke softly and with conviction. On occasions when I visited her at her office in Malacanang to run errands for Ople, she saw me promptly, going straight to official business because she was so busy. The Department of Budget, where she served for the longest time, was a beehive and, as the official money adjunct of the government, a nest of whispered corruption. But under Emy’s captainship, it was run as a tight ship. No leak. No whiff of scandal. No corruption. Her honesty rubbed off on every body. Even her dress bespoke of her simplicity and honest living.
As budget official, she knew her work like no other, and Ople was astounded by her phenomenal command of the budget—its details and implications and the policies that govern it. She served gratis as Ople’s consultant in his Senate office, same with Pat, Willie, Art, and the rest of Ople’s people.
Emy is gone.
It might take a long time coming for another Emy, yet with her legacy of honesty in public service indelibly etched on in our memory Diogenes can take comfort and take a respite from knocking on doors looking for an honest man.
Bob Arum on Congress
I am not much of a fan of boxing promoter Bob Arum, but I am a Manny Pacquiao fanatic.
So last Sunday during the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey encounter, when the world’s best boxer made short work of the Accra, Ghana native and put him on the road towards a possible clash with Floyd Mayweather, a coward masquerading as a trash-talker fighter, I again felt a clash of emotion, as I always do everytime the Pacman has a fight.
The reason was that I had to bear the presence of Arum on the television screen even as I delighted seeing Manny. I mean, wherever Pacquiao goes, so does Arum. I hate Arum and I love Pacquiao, hence the clash of emotion.
Arum may be a boxer’s dream promoter, but he is to me a consummate wheeler-dealer. The man is famous. He makes impossible boxing matches possible. He is moneyed. He is influential and intimidating, just like Don King of another era, but he is to me a sucker. He feeds on raw dreams of boxers wanting to earn a living with only their ferocious appetite for a fight as capital.
But last Sunday, I doffed my hat to Bob Arum when he delivered a political statement that is both so hilarious and true.
Asked by reporters in the post-fight news conference what Manny Pacquaio would do next now that he had demolished Clottey, Arum said the next interesting fight will be a Pacquiao-Mayweather title-header. He said this with the obvious thought of making more money for Manny—and of course—for himself.
And then he said something that almost floored me. He noted that the decision to fight Mayweather also depends on Manny who he said is a candidate for a Congressional seat in Sarangani province.
“He’s probably going to win the election,” Arum said. “But that’s all right because if their Congress is anything like ours, they don’t do anything anyway.”
Arum also a political analyst? Hear that Prospero Nograles and Juan Ponce Enrile.
So last Sunday during the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey encounter, when the world’s best boxer made short work of the Accra, Ghana native and put him on the road towards a possible clash with Floyd Mayweather, a coward masquerading as a trash-talker fighter, I again felt a clash of emotion, as I always do everytime the Pacman has a fight.
The reason was that I had to bear the presence of Arum on the television screen even as I delighted seeing Manny. I mean, wherever Pacquiao goes, so does Arum. I hate Arum and I love Pacquiao, hence the clash of emotion.
Arum may be a boxer’s dream promoter, but he is to me a consummate wheeler-dealer. The man is famous. He makes impossible boxing matches possible. He is moneyed. He is influential and intimidating, just like Don King of another era, but he is to me a sucker. He feeds on raw dreams of boxers wanting to earn a living with only their ferocious appetite for a fight as capital.
But last Sunday, I doffed my hat to Bob Arum when he delivered a political statement that is both so hilarious and true.
Asked by reporters in the post-fight news conference what Manny Pacquaio would do next now that he had demolished Clottey, Arum said the next interesting fight will be a Pacquiao-Mayweather title-header. He said this with the obvious thought of making more money for Manny—and of course—for himself.
And then he said something that almost floored me. He noted that the decision to fight Mayweather also depends on Manny who he said is a candidate for a Congressional seat in Sarangani province.
“He’s probably going to win the election,” Arum said. “But that’s all right because if their Congress is anything like ours, they don’t do anything anyway.”
Arum also a political analyst? Hear that Prospero Nograles and Juan Ponce Enrile.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
If we so decide
March 26 marks the beginning of the end of the rule of the Madrona-Beltran-Perez political triumvirate.
If Romblon so decides.
And that’s how far this bold prediction goes. The decision to put a stop to decades of inept governance, lying, and thieving lies at the soiled hands of the Romblomanons and not in the surveys or in the artful deception of the politicians now enduring the heat of the Romblon sun just so they could sweet-talk us. Talk us down, in fact.
Let’s see what is in store for us during the campaign.
It will rain from March 26 to May 8. It will be a politician-induced rain and the rain will come in the form of promises, recycled, unbelievable and untrue. Promises which we have heard three years ago, but which have remained unredeemed.
Madrona will promise us deliverance. Beltran will promise us how he will clean up the mess in the capitol. And Perez will promise us more 'projects'.
How about the others, the lesser gods of Romblon politics?
The others? Never mind the others. If they are in the mold of Madrona, Beltran and Perez, chances are they will just parrot the three until their batteries, sustained by the money of their masters, will run dry. Many Romblon politicians are not known for thinking by and for themselves. They are known for following strict orders from whoever wields the political strings. At the moment, those strings are tied at Madrona’s waist.
What else shall we see during the campaign?
Chances are we will see Romblomanons more divided than ever, not along ideological lines, but along familial ties. Our politics is local and so the appeal to the voters will be on the realm of relativity.
Vote for me, please, because we are relatives. That’s it. The campaign will be among tribe and clan, family initials and surnames. He or she who has the most number of relations, marital or otherwise, will win. Blood is thicker than water, our politicians would tell us. What they will not say is that it will be our blood they will suck when they are already in office. What they will not tell us is that it is the relatives first who get double-crossed (or the juicy positions) when these politicians acquire political power.
There are some things we would like to see, but will not, during the campaign.
Among these is the exhaustive, intelligent discussion of the issues.
Let’s begin with Madrona. Madrona could talk to death about how he made the lives of Romblomanons better through his 'projects' as congressman and governor during the last decade, which was interrupted when Lolong Firmalo reigned briefly from 2004 to 2007.
Don’t believe him. He is lying. Socio-economic indicators tell us otherwise. In 2000, Romblon’s poverty incidence was 52.2 percent, according to the National Statistics Office. That placed the province 10th among poorest provinces. In 2004, the poverty incidence was 37.5 percent, putting Romblon 26th on the list, but in 2006, the poverty incidence climbed back to 41.9 percent, slipping us down the ladder to be the 25th poorest province. Recently, the NSO adjudged Romblon as the worst-run province. Top that.
This is only the general picture. As they say, the devil is in the details, but since I will run out of space, I’ll reserve them for some time.
When Beltran promises that he will clean up the mess at the capitol, don’t believe him. The boy is lying.
In the first place, the mess in the capitol is his own, not ours. One has just to look into the COA audit reports to find out that this official is unfit to run even a barangay. The tales of graft and corruption involving the governor is unending, I wonder if he is still able to sleep the sleep of the just. Why should we re-elect a grossly irresponsible and corrupt politician? Are we not condoning idiocy in government if we give him another three years?
During the campaign, he may again recall as a sentimental appeal what his late father supposedly told him as a death-wish: for Beltran, Jr. not to leave Romblon alone.
Well, he better leave us alone now, for experience tells us that with Beltran Jr. accompanying us in our journey, he is only leading us to the road to perdition.
And Perez the menace? Oh, I almost forgot that this guy was supposed to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary a few months ago. If this is not the election, I would have believed the news. Almost. He must be so hungry for 'project' funds because of the election ban on construction projects that he is now ‘seeing things’.
The ‘seeing things’ are in quotes because I copied the phrase from Seamus Heaney, the Irish Nobel Peace laureate who write outstanding poems for the powerless, not like Perez who write outstanding checks to remain powerful.
But then again, the former DPWH official has been ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman for graft and corruption, but because of his supposed ‘connection’, he still freely roams the province with a coterie of police officials as umbrella-holders and security escorts.
And now, Perez is a candidate for vice governor. Good for him. It would be interesting to see him pounding the gavel during the sessions of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Has he promised to behave and stopped sending out feelers to buy-out Awe Eranes for the latter’s scathing commentary against him?
There are so many issues that will be left unsaid in the campaign, issues that the candidates will prevaricate about, evade, and hope that these not be raised. My point is that if we must be true to ourselves as citizens, we must precisely bring out these issues into the open so that the voters will be educated. We must discuss them during the campaign, instead of just hand-shaking and back-slapping voters in the campaign trail. Are our politicians even teaching the voters how to vote using the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines?
I have been lamenting to friends that Romblon is unfortunate. Our province is rich but wretched. Thanks to our politicians who derive happiness from keeping us ignorant. That’s a Raul Manglapus line.
We have a university, yes, but I believe that in the larger sense, it is not helping much to educate the Romblomanons either on the true nature of our socio-economic and political deprivation.
A university, I believe, should perform the function of a leaders’ laboratory, initiating change and reform and leading movements on establishing a just social order.
How about the Romblon State University sponsoring a debate between the congressional candidates so that the Romblomanons can be illuminated on their choices during the election? Can President Sespeñe temporarily abandon his worries about his Ombudsman cases, rise to the occasion, and initiate this voter education exercise?
If he can’t, then my bold prediction at the beginning of this piece—that March 26 will mark the beginning of the end of our misery—will be just that: a bold prediction.
Still, I have hope that if the Romblomanons so decide, they will seize this moment, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and set aright decades of wrongdoing, by voting out of office the causes of their deprivation and opening up a new chapter for a better tomorrow.
If Romblon so decides.
And that’s how far this bold prediction goes. The decision to put a stop to decades of inept governance, lying, and thieving lies at the soiled hands of the Romblomanons and not in the surveys or in the artful deception of the politicians now enduring the heat of the Romblon sun just so they could sweet-talk us. Talk us down, in fact.
Let’s see what is in store for us during the campaign.
It will rain from March 26 to May 8. It will be a politician-induced rain and the rain will come in the form of promises, recycled, unbelievable and untrue. Promises which we have heard three years ago, but which have remained unredeemed.
Madrona will promise us deliverance. Beltran will promise us how he will clean up the mess in the capitol. And Perez will promise us more 'projects'.
How about the others, the lesser gods of Romblon politics?
The others? Never mind the others. If they are in the mold of Madrona, Beltran and Perez, chances are they will just parrot the three until their batteries, sustained by the money of their masters, will run dry. Many Romblon politicians are not known for thinking by and for themselves. They are known for following strict orders from whoever wields the political strings. At the moment, those strings are tied at Madrona’s waist.
What else shall we see during the campaign?
Chances are we will see Romblomanons more divided than ever, not along ideological lines, but along familial ties. Our politics is local and so the appeal to the voters will be on the realm of relativity.
Vote for me, please, because we are relatives. That’s it. The campaign will be among tribe and clan, family initials and surnames. He or she who has the most number of relations, marital or otherwise, will win. Blood is thicker than water, our politicians would tell us. What they will not say is that it will be our blood they will suck when they are already in office. What they will not tell us is that it is the relatives first who get double-crossed (or the juicy positions) when these politicians acquire political power.
There are some things we would like to see, but will not, during the campaign.
Among these is the exhaustive, intelligent discussion of the issues.
Let’s begin with Madrona. Madrona could talk to death about how he made the lives of Romblomanons better through his 'projects' as congressman and governor during the last decade, which was interrupted when Lolong Firmalo reigned briefly from 2004 to 2007.
Don’t believe him. He is lying. Socio-economic indicators tell us otherwise. In 2000, Romblon’s poverty incidence was 52.2 percent, according to the National Statistics Office. That placed the province 10th among poorest provinces. In 2004, the poverty incidence was 37.5 percent, putting Romblon 26th on the list, but in 2006, the poverty incidence climbed back to 41.9 percent, slipping us down the ladder to be the 25th poorest province. Recently, the NSO adjudged Romblon as the worst-run province. Top that.
This is only the general picture. As they say, the devil is in the details, but since I will run out of space, I’ll reserve them for some time.
When Beltran promises that he will clean up the mess at the capitol, don’t believe him. The boy is lying.
In the first place, the mess in the capitol is his own, not ours. One has just to look into the COA audit reports to find out that this official is unfit to run even a barangay. The tales of graft and corruption involving the governor is unending, I wonder if he is still able to sleep the sleep of the just. Why should we re-elect a grossly irresponsible and corrupt politician? Are we not condoning idiocy in government if we give him another three years?
During the campaign, he may again recall as a sentimental appeal what his late father supposedly told him as a death-wish: for Beltran, Jr. not to leave Romblon alone.
Well, he better leave us alone now, for experience tells us that with Beltran Jr. accompanying us in our journey, he is only leading us to the road to perdition.
And Perez the menace? Oh, I almost forgot that this guy was supposed to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary a few months ago. If this is not the election, I would have believed the news. Almost. He must be so hungry for 'project' funds because of the election ban on construction projects that he is now ‘seeing things’.
The ‘seeing things’ are in quotes because I copied the phrase from Seamus Heaney, the Irish Nobel Peace laureate who write outstanding poems for the powerless, not like Perez who write outstanding checks to remain powerful.
But then again, the former DPWH official has been ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman for graft and corruption, but because of his supposed ‘connection’, he still freely roams the province with a coterie of police officials as umbrella-holders and security escorts.
And now, Perez is a candidate for vice governor. Good for him. It would be interesting to see him pounding the gavel during the sessions of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Has he promised to behave and stopped sending out feelers to buy-out Awe Eranes for the latter’s scathing commentary against him?
There are so many issues that will be left unsaid in the campaign, issues that the candidates will prevaricate about, evade, and hope that these not be raised. My point is that if we must be true to ourselves as citizens, we must precisely bring out these issues into the open so that the voters will be educated. We must discuss them during the campaign, instead of just hand-shaking and back-slapping voters in the campaign trail. Are our politicians even teaching the voters how to vote using the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines?
I have been lamenting to friends that Romblon is unfortunate. Our province is rich but wretched. Thanks to our politicians who derive happiness from keeping us ignorant. That’s a Raul Manglapus line.
We have a university, yes, but I believe that in the larger sense, it is not helping much to educate the Romblomanons either on the true nature of our socio-economic and political deprivation.
A university, I believe, should perform the function of a leaders’ laboratory, initiating change and reform and leading movements on establishing a just social order.
How about the Romblon State University sponsoring a debate between the congressional candidates so that the Romblomanons can be illuminated on their choices during the election? Can President Sespeñe temporarily abandon his worries about his Ombudsman cases, rise to the occasion, and initiate this voter education exercise?
If he can’t, then my bold prediction at the beginning of this piece—that March 26 will mark the beginning of the end of our misery—will be just that: a bold prediction.
Still, I have hope that if the Romblomanons so decide, they will seize this moment, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and set aright decades of wrongdoing, by voting out of office the causes of their deprivation and opening up a new chapter for a better tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
May 10, 2010 more of a referendum than an election
Now that the campaign for the May 10, 2010 national election is rolling on in earnest, we, the people, can already heave a sigh of relief.
We can rest easy because after years of speculation, gutter ‘tsismis’, armchair analysis, and political punditry, we are now into the time of mudslinging—for that’s how every election campaign in this country is, with very few exceptions.
We can sleep soundly for we now know who among the crop of self-styled ‘saviours’ are taking the risk of either getting 1) crucified as thief, or 2) crowned as king of our hapless banana republic.
That’s the beauty of a ‘buyang’, which what every Philippine election is like. After some time of ‘himas’ and ‘pakahig’ finally comes the time for ‘butaw’—the actual political combat. It is only then that we bet. Sa puya, sa puti. Hala, bira, as Ish Fabicon would always say.
Just like many voters, I am excited about the May 10, 2010 political showdown, but not in the sense that many may think. While other people are enervated by the candidates’ antics, I am more agitated by the issues that are crying out to be raised, but are not. While many are salivating over the short-term—and little—cash that candidates are handing out, like a parent to a crying child, I am more jumpy at the sight of candidates, say like former district engineer Rolindo Perez, treating us to the spectacle of their power-tripping. Perez, I heard, still goes around surrounded by ‘hired goons’ who are actually police officers. What more violation of the law can one ask?
Or, to the extreme irony that is Cong. Budoy Madrona. Well, what can one say about Budoy except to praise him for being a traditional survivor? Lest the readers misinterpret it, I’d like to salute Madrona for his political longevity, which my political antenna tells me may soon end at the twist of history. He might yet get waylaid by the unassuming Alice Fetalvero?
But I digress. I was saying that I am excited, not by the election per se, but by the way the election is shaping up to be. I now say with boldness: the May 10, 2010 election could end up not as an election in the truest sense of the word, but as a referendum of sorts.
Let me explain. You see, nine years of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is nine years the life of a cat drawn in an Eveready battery. Get it? It means long life. It means a cat has nine lives, so they say, and that nine is soon going to end. On May 10, 2010, I suppose.
Ahh. So, what does that mean?
To me, it means my suffering—and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Romblomanons—at the hands of an illegitimate administration may soon expire. End. Finish. Good riddance. You don’t have Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to kick around anymore. It means Bernie Fondevilla, who is by extension also an illegitimate undersecretary of agriculture, may no longer be seen around promising Romblomanons fishing vessels even if they are farmers by profession. Catch my drift?
Wait. Before we jump like chimpanzees, however, at the prospect of Gloria’s exit, let me tell you it’s going to be difficult. There’s an election coming and Jojo Beltran may still win. What I mean is that there’s still a referendum to happen before we can finally say, “Bye-bye, Budoy!”, “Paalam, Perez!”, or “Adios, Batman!” We, the people, need to win first before anything like that could happen.
And this is the problem. How do we, the people, win? Answer: make the election a referendum.
If I were managing Alice Fetalvero’s and Lolong Firmalo’s campaign, my tack would be to frame the election as a contest between good and evil—with Alice and Lolong as saints and Budoy et al as Lucifer’s hell’s angels.
Don’t get me wrong. This is not personal, for I am, human as everyone else, also imperfect. This is just me writing an opinion piece.
Nonetheless, there is more than logic in what I propose. Because of Romblon’s dire economic situation, Fetalvero and Firmalo should frame the debate in this election as a choice between right and wrong; between progressive and mediocre leadership; between honesty and thievery; between the restoration of hope and hopes dashed by unfulfilled promises; between practical intelligence and idiocy; and between the people-as-the-oppressed and the ruler-as-the-oppressor.
This election-as-referendum means explaining to the people the clear choices that they have to make and making them see the alternatives that are before them: honest governance versus capricious rule; integrity and honesty versus graft and corruption; accountability versus irresponsibility; people-first versus Budoy Muna sloganeering; and creative leadership versus unimaginative parochialism, even laziness.
If Alice and Lolong will never tire in going around with these messages, the chance is pretty huge that they will trounce Budoy. Nakakahilak rabuno si Perez ag si Jojo! Now, the three of them can hire and re-hire Damaso to lie for them. They can even continue sending feelers to the courageous Awe Eranes to buy him just to silence him. Awe Eranes? Mapaka-putak pa kina, hala.
There is more than enough basis to what I propose. Last year, I outlined the deteriorating economic life of the Romblomanons in a four-series article that appeared on this newspaper. I hoped then—as I continue to hope now—that ‘thinking’ Romblomanons will pick up from where I left off and do something.
Nobody did. The large majority of our people remain silent. So it came to pass that we are now on stage for yet another political extravaganza. We are now hearing the same traditional music of the traditional politicians and we, unfortunately, oblige to dance our traditional dances, without missing a bit of the missteps that precisely brought us to this very stage three years ago.
Now, let the dance begin.
We can rest easy because after years of speculation, gutter ‘tsismis’, armchair analysis, and political punditry, we are now into the time of mudslinging—for that’s how every election campaign in this country is, with very few exceptions.
We can sleep soundly for we now know who among the crop of self-styled ‘saviours’ are taking the risk of either getting 1) crucified as thief, or 2) crowned as king of our hapless banana republic.
That’s the beauty of a ‘buyang’, which what every Philippine election is like. After some time of ‘himas’ and ‘pakahig’ finally comes the time for ‘butaw’—the actual political combat. It is only then that we bet. Sa puya, sa puti. Hala, bira, as Ish Fabicon would always say.
Just like many voters, I am excited about the May 10, 2010 political showdown, but not in the sense that many may think. While other people are enervated by the candidates’ antics, I am more agitated by the issues that are crying out to be raised, but are not. While many are salivating over the short-term—and little—cash that candidates are handing out, like a parent to a crying child, I am more jumpy at the sight of candidates, say like former district engineer Rolindo Perez, treating us to the spectacle of their power-tripping. Perez, I heard, still goes around surrounded by ‘hired goons’ who are actually police officers. What more violation of the law can one ask?
Or, to the extreme irony that is Cong. Budoy Madrona. Well, what can one say about Budoy except to praise him for being a traditional survivor? Lest the readers misinterpret it, I’d like to salute Madrona for his political longevity, which my political antenna tells me may soon end at the twist of history. He might yet get waylaid by the unassuming Alice Fetalvero?
But I digress. I was saying that I am excited, not by the election per se, but by the way the election is shaping up to be. I now say with boldness: the May 10, 2010 election could end up not as an election in the truest sense of the word, but as a referendum of sorts.
Let me explain. You see, nine years of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is nine years the life of a cat drawn in an Eveready battery. Get it? It means long life. It means a cat has nine lives, so they say, and that nine is soon going to end. On May 10, 2010, I suppose.
Ahh. So, what does that mean?
To me, it means my suffering—and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Romblomanons—at the hands of an illegitimate administration may soon expire. End. Finish. Good riddance. You don’t have Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to kick around anymore. It means Bernie Fondevilla, who is by extension also an illegitimate undersecretary of agriculture, may no longer be seen around promising Romblomanons fishing vessels even if they are farmers by profession. Catch my drift?
Wait. Before we jump like chimpanzees, however, at the prospect of Gloria’s exit, let me tell you it’s going to be difficult. There’s an election coming and Jojo Beltran may still win. What I mean is that there’s still a referendum to happen before we can finally say, “Bye-bye, Budoy!”, “Paalam, Perez!”, or “Adios, Batman!” We, the people, need to win first before anything like that could happen.
And this is the problem. How do we, the people, win? Answer: make the election a referendum.
If I were managing Alice Fetalvero’s and Lolong Firmalo’s campaign, my tack would be to frame the election as a contest between good and evil—with Alice and Lolong as saints and Budoy et al as Lucifer’s hell’s angels.
Don’t get me wrong. This is not personal, for I am, human as everyone else, also imperfect. This is just me writing an opinion piece.
Nonetheless, there is more than logic in what I propose. Because of Romblon’s dire economic situation, Fetalvero and Firmalo should frame the debate in this election as a choice between right and wrong; between progressive and mediocre leadership; between honesty and thievery; between the restoration of hope and hopes dashed by unfulfilled promises; between practical intelligence and idiocy; and between the people-as-the-oppressed and the ruler-as-the-oppressor.
This election-as-referendum means explaining to the people the clear choices that they have to make and making them see the alternatives that are before them: honest governance versus capricious rule; integrity and honesty versus graft and corruption; accountability versus irresponsibility; people-first versus Budoy Muna sloganeering; and creative leadership versus unimaginative parochialism, even laziness.
If Alice and Lolong will never tire in going around with these messages, the chance is pretty huge that they will trounce Budoy. Nakakahilak rabuno si Perez ag si Jojo! Now, the three of them can hire and re-hire Damaso to lie for them. They can even continue sending feelers to the courageous Awe Eranes to buy him just to silence him. Awe Eranes? Mapaka-putak pa kina, hala.
There is more than enough basis to what I propose. Last year, I outlined the deteriorating economic life of the Romblomanons in a four-series article that appeared on this newspaper. I hoped then—as I continue to hope now—that ‘thinking’ Romblomanons will pick up from where I left off and do something.
Nobody did. The large majority of our people remain silent. So it came to pass that we are now on stage for yet another political extravaganza. We are now hearing the same traditional music of the traditional politicians and we, unfortunately, oblige to dance our traditional dances, without missing a bit of the missteps that precisely brought us to this very stage three years ago.
Now, let the dance begin.
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