Centrist Democracy Political Institute - Items filtered by date: June 2025
Wednesday, 18 August 2021 09:03
The birthing - an ideological political party
Fourth of a series
THE previous columns of this series were devoted to the ups and downs of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) from its traumatic birth during the dark days of martial law, midwifed by Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel; its maturation as part of former president Cory Aquino's coalition government; to its hiatus after the debacle of 1992 Liberal-PDP-Laban coalition; the revival, relapse and split former mayor Jejomar "Jojo" Binay's tutelage; and the younger Pimentel's reacquisition of the party, riding on the coattails of the Rodrigo "the Deegong" Duterte to the Philippine presidency.
The latter marked its apex and the complete takeover of the once ideologically driven party by traditional politics, culminating in last month's split between the factions of President Rodrigo Duterte with Secretary Alfonso Cusi on one side and Senators Aquilino "Koko" Pimientel 3rd and Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao on the other. It is worthwhile recalling that the latter group kicked out Cusi from his PDP-Laban executive position and subsequent instant retaliation by booting out Pacquiao from the party presidency. Both sides displayed a cartoonish, slapstick and childish behavior worthy of the classic bumbling Keystone Cops. The Deegong now owns the party and will do whatever he pleases with it.
Many of the original founding members anticipated this eventuality after traditional politicians were allowed in earlier. In the late 1990s, Rey Teves, my political twin, and I reluctantly left Nene Pimentel's political biosphere, but with his acquiescence and blessings. He was now a respected senator and at one time a Senate president. Rey Teves concentrated on the Mindanao-based Tacdrup and Kusog Mindanao and other nongovernmental organizations. After my Harvard stint, I took a further sabbatical to work on rebuilding my finances in the "dog-eat-dog" world of business, particularly in government power contracts, real estate and the financial markets.
Political struggle - our antecedents
But the call of political technocracy was a compelling one and we were drawn to the unfinished confrontations we were part of even prior to the martial law years. Political endeavors were inexorably woven with our daily lives. It is part of our DNA. We were captives of our own historicity.
To recall, as part of our nostalgic baggage, our serious political initiation started with an almost forgotten man in Philippine politics, Raul Manglapus, our original mentor who took us into the Christian Social Movement (CSM).
CSM-1967 (excerpts)
"Raul Manglapus was one of the leading political figures of the 60s having been elected to the Senate at the age of 42. He was a fresh face in the political scene and endowed with genius, making him attractive to the children of the era. It was logical that we rushed to his side when he ran for the Philippine presidency. It was also a first hard lesson for us, the young idealists, that we were no match for the organized traditional political machinery that propelled his opponent, Ferdinand Marcos, to power.
"Raul's role in our understanding and appreciation of the principles of Christian Democracy was made no less compelling by our exposure to the seminars and leadership formation of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation (KAS). Our association with this German foundation has been fruitful and reinforced over the years by warm friendship with its country representatives interrupted only during the years of Martial Law."
Author's note: In some ways, Nene Pimentel, Rey Teves and many of us in the CSM imbued with the principles of Christian Socialism and Christian Democracy had to continue the political fight with the formation of the PDP-Laban (see parts 1 to 3 of this series, The Manila Times) while CSM was in hibernation with Manglapus exiled in the US (he went on to establish the NUCD, that won the presidency with FVR).
Successor generation
After an interval of two decades, since the CSM dormancy in the 1980s and a decade after the PDP-Laban debacle in the late 1990s, the remnants of the Christian Democrats (CD), which include many who left PDP-Laban, were scattered all over the political topography; their frustrations driving them to either lodge themselves with the extreme left or allow themselves to be co-opted by regimes in need of their political skills.
A few of us in the southern part of the country, after having been in the political struggle since the late 1960s, going through the fourth quarter storm, through the turmoil of the martial law years, our disillusionment with the Cory government in ushering in her concept of "democracy" and our frustrations with PDP-Laban and faced with our advancing age - perhaps it was time to change gears and train while we could the next generation of the youth who may have to carry on the task of lifting the Filipino from the sociopolitical-economic quagmire we, the older generation, have helped put them in. We were never under any illusion that changes, political or otherwise, would take generations. We saw these young politically astute individuals - "the masters of the universe," those who are burning with passion to spread the ideology of Centrist Democracy and those still imbued with the arrogance of youth that they could indeed change the world. Rey and I both counted on this as the compelling force to mold themselves and emerge as the transformative leaders our country needs. This was the core concept of our successor generation program (SucGen), under the aegis of Tacdrup.
In the course of developing this concept, Rey succumbed to pneumonia in November 2009 and passed away. Enter into the scene, Peter Koeppinger, the new Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) country representative. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party in power in Germany and our partners since Manglapus' time, he understood the necessity of forming a political party. This led to the founding of the Centrist Democratic Movement (CDM) - composed of young professionals who must first understand the uses, misuses, abuses and even nonuse of political power.
Berlin protocol
Peter Koeppinger just died a week ago. I wrote this obituary:
"It is a measure of Peter's determination and strength of character that he single-handedly moved the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to support our initiatives. Thus, the CDM was born with thousands of young professionals undergoing seminars and training toward party building. And in 2011, in Berlin, Germany, CDM officials and members enacted the "Berlin Protocol" - the document for the creation of a political party. The Centrist Democratic Party (CDP), ang partido ng tunay na Pilipino, was born."
The CDP managed to field in 2013 a nationwide roster of 68 candidates winning 14 elective positions for a respectable 20 percent, a fairly decent number for a maverick political party. It is difficult to win if we cling on to principles in an environment ruled by money and power play. But since we have the best of intentions, the innocence of the just and the impudence to beat the odds, we gained the favor of the gods!
But oddly the CDP began to fray at the edges in its subsequent support for the Deegong in 2016. That same year, CDP went into a torpid state.
Next week: Will an ideological political party ever flourish?
THE previous columns of this series were devoted to the ups and downs of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) from its traumatic birth during the dark days of martial law, midwifed by Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel; its maturation as part of former president Cory Aquino's coalition government; to its hiatus after the debacle of 1992 Liberal-PDP-Laban coalition; the revival, relapse and split former mayor Jejomar "Jojo" Binay's tutelage; and the younger Pimentel's reacquisition of the party, riding on the coattails of the Rodrigo "the Deegong" Duterte to the Philippine presidency.
The latter marked its apex and the complete takeover of the once ideologically driven party by traditional politics, culminating in last month's split between the factions of President Rodrigo Duterte with Secretary Alfonso Cusi on one side and Senators Aquilino "Koko" Pimientel 3rd and Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao on the other. It is worthwhile recalling that the latter group kicked out Cusi from his PDP-Laban executive position and subsequent instant retaliation by booting out Pacquiao from the party presidency. Both sides displayed a cartoonish, slapstick and childish behavior worthy of the classic bumbling Keystone Cops. The Deegong now owns the party and will do whatever he pleases with it.
Many of the original founding members anticipated this eventuality after traditional politicians were allowed in earlier. In the late 1990s, Rey Teves, my political twin, and I reluctantly left Nene Pimentel's political biosphere, but with his acquiescence and blessings. He was now a respected senator and at one time a Senate president. Rey Teves concentrated on the Mindanao-based Tacdrup and Kusog Mindanao and other nongovernmental organizations. After my Harvard stint, I took a further sabbatical to work on rebuilding my finances in the "dog-eat-dog" world of business, particularly in government power contracts, real estate and the financial markets.
Political struggle - our antecedents
But the call of political technocracy was a compelling one and we were drawn to the unfinished confrontations we were part of even prior to the martial law years. Political endeavors were inexorably woven with our daily lives. It is part of our DNA. We were captives of our own historicity.
To recall, as part of our nostalgic baggage, our serious political initiation started with an almost forgotten man in Philippine politics, Raul Manglapus, our original mentor who took us into the Christian Social Movement (CSM).
CSM-1967 (excerpts)
"Raul Manglapus was one of the leading political figures of the 60s having been elected to the Senate at the age of 42. He was a fresh face in the political scene and endowed with genius, making him attractive to the children of the era. It was logical that we rushed to his side when he ran for the Philippine presidency. It was also a first hard lesson for us, the young idealists, that we were no match for the organized traditional political machinery that propelled his opponent, Ferdinand Marcos, to power.
"Raul's role in our understanding and appreciation of the principles of Christian Democracy was made no less compelling by our exposure to the seminars and leadership formation of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation (KAS). Our association with this German foundation has been fruitful and reinforced over the years by warm friendship with its country representatives interrupted only during the years of Martial Law."
Author's note: In some ways, Nene Pimentel, Rey Teves and many of us in the CSM imbued with the principles of Christian Socialism and Christian Democracy had to continue the political fight with the formation of the PDP-Laban (see parts 1 to 3 of this series, The Manila Times) while CSM was in hibernation with Manglapus exiled in the US (he went on to establish the NUCD, that won the presidency with FVR).
Successor generation
After an interval of two decades, since the CSM dormancy in the 1980s and a decade after the PDP-Laban debacle in the late 1990s, the remnants of the Christian Democrats (CD), which include many who left PDP-Laban, were scattered all over the political topography; their frustrations driving them to either lodge themselves with the extreme left or allow themselves to be co-opted by regimes in need of their political skills.
A few of us in the southern part of the country, after having been in the political struggle since the late 1960s, going through the fourth quarter storm, through the turmoil of the martial law years, our disillusionment with the Cory government in ushering in her concept of "democracy" and our frustrations with PDP-Laban and faced with our advancing age - perhaps it was time to change gears and train while we could the next generation of the youth who may have to carry on the task of lifting the Filipino from the sociopolitical-economic quagmire we, the older generation, have helped put them in. We were never under any illusion that changes, political or otherwise, would take generations. We saw these young politically astute individuals - "the masters of the universe," those who are burning with passion to spread the ideology of Centrist Democracy and those still imbued with the arrogance of youth that they could indeed change the world. Rey and I both counted on this as the compelling force to mold themselves and emerge as the transformative leaders our country needs. This was the core concept of our successor generation program (SucGen), under the aegis of Tacdrup.
In the course of developing this concept, Rey succumbed to pneumonia in November 2009 and passed away. Enter into the scene, Peter Koeppinger, the new Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) country representative. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party in power in Germany and our partners since Manglapus' time, he understood the necessity of forming a political party. This led to the founding of the Centrist Democratic Movement (CDM) - composed of young professionals who must first understand the uses, misuses, abuses and even nonuse of political power.
Berlin protocol
Peter Koeppinger just died a week ago. I wrote this obituary:
"It is a measure of Peter's determination and strength of character that he single-handedly moved the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to support our initiatives. Thus, the CDM was born with thousands of young professionals undergoing seminars and training toward party building. And in 2011, in Berlin, Germany, CDM officials and members enacted the "Berlin Protocol" - the document for the creation of a political party. The Centrist Democratic Party (CDP), ang partido ng tunay na Pilipino, was born."
The CDP managed to field in 2013 a nationwide roster of 68 candidates winning 14 elective positions for a respectable 20 percent, a fairly decent number for a maverick political party. It is difficult to win if we cling on to principles in an environment ruled by money and power play. But since we have the best of intentions, the innocence of the just and the impudence to beat the odds, we gained the favor of the gods!
But oddly the CDP began to fray at the edges in its subsequent support for the Deegong in 2016. That same year, CDP went into a torpid state.
Next week: Will an ideological political party ever flourish?
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 11 August 2021 11:27
The new PDP-Laban: A revival of sorts
Third of a series
(Cont'd excerpts from A Fragmented Political Opposition):
"IN the 1995 elections, PDP-Laban went into a coalition with President FVR's Lakas-NUCD, but Nene Pimentel lost in the infamous 'dagdag-bawas.'
"Around this time, one of the few PDP Laban groups that operated was in Makati City, where Mayor Jejomar 'Jojo' Binay reigned supreme. He started a weekly meeting at the mayor's office where we planned out the revival of the party. For a time, the mayor enlisted some of us, which included Elfren Cruz, the first of Binay's series of secretaries-general. The PDP-Laban brand was still very strong, but the structures nationwide were in shambles. The roster of membership was almost nonexistent. Makati seemed to be the exception as Binay understood the need for sustainable political machinery. Himself in the mold of a traditional politico, Binay came from the masses and civil society, active in the 'parliament of the streets' during martial law. He personified the new breed of PDP-Laban politician, politically savvy while retaining the language of its ideology. His grasp of local party politics is superior, propelling him to establish a political dynasty that includes a senator, a congresswoman, a mayor and a vice president.
Crossroads
"The PDP-Laban now reached a crossroad. The original concept may have been too advanced for its time. It was born in the midst of political and social turmoil forged under the intense heat of a repressive regime. The times are different but the political truths that propelled the creation of PDP-Laban then, exist now. They are universal. PDP-Laban must exist to aggregate the hopes and aspirations not only of its membership but a greater segment of the population it seeks to serve. To do this, it must strive for political power anchored on a set of principles clearly manifested in its platform of governance. The party must guarantee that these are to be translated into policies and mechanisms that must hew close to their beliefs - once they are gifted the privilege to govern.
"One road leads to winning the prize using the same methods used by countless traditional leaders since the time we became a Republic, using the same formula that would benefit the populace and those that wield the power only for the duration of their tenure and maybe for a little bit more. This path had been traversed countless times, well-trodden, safe and comfortable.
"The other avenue requires the reinvention of the party bringing it back to its roots examining why it was created in the first place and for whom it was intended. These three decades of its history needed to be assessed as this will provide valuable lessons for those presently in control of its mechanisms. For one, who now owns this party? Who are its current stakeholders and what are their claims to their ownership? A subsidiary question may be forwarded: why are the personalities who brought its perversion back at its helm?
"The more important queries perhaps bore deep into our core beliefs: Were the principles we believed in at the outset still valid; and are they the basis of our actions today and part of our strategy for governance in the future?
"Simply put, should we leave behind the PDP-Laban as our legacy?"
Author's note. This was written after 1995, when after a debacle PDP-Laban lost many adherents who migrated to the ruling party - Lakas Tao-NUCD. But PDP-Laban was still intact. With Nene Pimentel having lost a Senate seat, formal leadership passed on to the mayor of Makati, Jejomar Binay. These musings were and are part of the soul-searching that propelled the party to reinvent itself.
In some peculiar way, 2021 is a near reenactment of 1995-2010 but with fatal and final consequences. While it was a smooth transition from a defeated senator to a city mayor who won the vice presidency in the 2010 elections, with PDP-Laban in coalition with President Estrada's Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), it is different today. July 2021 marks the end of the founder Pimentel's era, and his vision of a political party attaining political power driven by the ideals and principles of Christian socialism - the soul of the party borne out of the centuries of sociopolitical struggle blending Christian doctrines and societal responsibilities depicted in the Catholic encyclicals.
From left of center to the center
Over the years, even before he became senator, Nene Pimentel - and by inference the party - ideologically had begun to drift toward the center beginning to identify itself with Christian democracy. Even concepts of stewardship and public ownership of the modes of production gave way to appreciating private ownership with social responsibility. In the mid-1980s when Pimentel and I visited countries in Europe, particularly Germany, we were exposed to European practices adopting concepts of market economy with heavy social components. Social market economy (SOME), long practiced in European countries, became more attractive as the PDP-Laban's economic philosophy for the Philippines in contrast to our original socialist leanings. It helped too that PDP-Laban was enrolled in the Christian Democratic International (CDI) when we were both invited by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) to attend the CDI Conference in Bonn, Germany in 1985 - meeting with Prime Minister Helmuth Kohl - and Pimentel addressing the gathering. (Details are treated exhaustively in the book.)
It is unfortunate that the PDP-Laban literature and documentation did not keep pace with this ideological development as Pimentel and the party were hurled into turbulence encompassing the country in the aftermath of 1986 EDSA Revolution.
Currently, the PDP-Laban in the hands of the party chairman, the country's president, is no longer occupied with the nuances of ideology. Government and the leadership are driven toward pragmatics - eliminating illegal drugs (at all costs), corruption in the bureaucracy, poverty alleviation, economic infrastructures, and pandemic mitigation, among others - all worthwhile concerns. But Duterte's parameters are now the PDP-Laban's and labels like Christian socialists or Christian democrats are irrelevant.
Even Sen. Koko Pimentel, disinherited heir, an accomplished politician in his own right, may no longer lay claim to the ideological soul of PDP-Laban. It lost its soul long ago once it allowed the tradpols entry. And like the Buddhist belief, is reincarnated into a lesser life.
The Pimentel-Mindanao PDP-Laban borne out of the turmoil of the 1970s and 1980s is condemned to simply draw on a baggage of nostalgia and the narratives of dying old comrades. But nostalgia and the hankering for past glories are a poor launching pad for electoral victory and eventual capture of political power. The old PDP-Laban went that route and it failed. Pragmatic political considerations are now in the hands of President Duterte and the traditional politicians whom the Pimentel pere et fils opened the party doors for. History will still have to judge the rectitude of this act.
But PDP-Laban will only exist until after the patron is gone. Perhaps by that time, PDP Laban will regain its ideological footing. Perhaps!
Next week, Aug. 18, 2021: The birthing of an ideological political party
(Cont'd excerpts from A Fragmented Political Opposition):
"IN the 1995 elections, PDP-Laban went into a coalition with President FVR's Lakas-NUCD, but Nene Pimentel lost in the infamous 'dagdag-bawas.'
"Around this time, one of the few PDP Laban groups that operated was in Makati City, where Mayor Jejomar 'Jojo' Binay reigned supreme. He started a weekly meeting at the mayor's office where we planned out the revival of the party. For a time, the mayor enlisted some of us, which included Elfren Cruz, the first of Binay's series of secretaries-general. The PDP-Laban brand was still very strong, but the structures nationwide were in shambles. The roster of membership was almost nonexistent. Makati seemed to be the exception as Binay understood the need for sustainable political machinery. Himself in the mold of a traditional politico, Binay came from the masses and civil society, active in the 'parliament of the streets' during martial law. He personified the new breed of PDP-Laban politician, politically savvy while retaining the language of its ideology. His grasp of local party politics is superior, propelling him to establish a political dynasty that includes a senator, a congresswoman, a mayor and a vice president.
Crossroads
"The PDP-Laban now reached a crossroad. The original concept may have been too advanced for its time. It was born in the midst of political and social turmoil forged under the intense heat of a repressive regime. The times are different but the political truths that propelled the creation of PDP-Laban then, exist now. They are universal. PDP-Laban must exist to aggregate the hopes and aspirations not only of its membership but a greater segment of the population it seeks to serve. To do this, it must strive for political power anchored on a set of principles clearly manifested in its platform of governance. The party must guarantee that these are to be translated into policies and mechanisms that must hew close to their beliefs - once they are gifted the privilege to govern.
"One road leads to winning the prize using the same methods used by countless traditional leaders since the time we became a Republic, using the same formula that would benefit the populace and those that wield the power only for the duration of their tenure and maybe for a little bit more. This path had been traversed countless times, well-trodden, safe and comfortable.
"The other avenue requires the reinvention of the party bringing it back to its roots examining why it was created in the first place and for whom it was intended. These three decades of its history needed to be assessed as this will provide valuable lessons for those presently in control of its mechanisms. For one, who now owns this party? Who are its current stakeholders and what are their claims to their ownership? A subsidiary question may be forwarded: why are the personalities who brought its perversion back at its helm?
"The more important queries perhaps bore deep into our core beliefs: Were the principles we believed in at the outset still valid; and are they the basis of our actions today and part of our strategy for governance in the future?
"Simply put, should we leave behind the PDP-Laban as our legacy?"
Author's note. This was written after 1995, when after a debacle PDP-Laban lost many adherents who migrated to the ruling party - Lakas Tao-NUCD. But PDP-Laban was still intact. With Nene Pimentel having lost a Senate seat, formal leadership passed on to the mayor of Makati, Jejomar Binay. These musings were and are part of the soul-searching that propelled the party to reinvent itself.
In some peculiar way, 2021 is a near reenactment of 1995-2010 but with fatal and final consequences. While it was a smooth transition from a defeated senator to a city mayor who won the vice presidency in the 2010 elections, with PDP-Laban in coalition with President Estrada's Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), it is different today. July 2021 marks the end of the founder Pimentel's era, and his vision of a political party attaining political power driven by the ideals and principles of Christian socialism - the soul of the party borne out of the centuries of sociopolitical struggle blending Christian doctrines and societal responsibilities depicted in the Catholic encyclicals.
From left of center to the center
Over the years, even before he became senator, Nene Pimentel - and by inference the party - ideologically had begun to drift toward the center beginning to identify itself with Christian democracy. Even concepts of stewardship and public ownership of the modes of production gave way to appreciating private ownership with social responsibility. In the mid-1980s when Pimentel and I visited countries in Europe, particularly Germany, we were exposed to European practices adopting concepts of market economy with heavy social components. Social market economy (SOME), long practiced in European countries, became more attractive as the PDP-Laban's economic philosophy for the Philippines in contrast to our original socialist leanings. It helped too that PDP-Laban was enrolled in the Christian Democratic International (CDI) when we were both invited by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) to attend the CDI Conference in Bonn, Germany in 1985 - meeting with Prime Minister Helmuth Kohl - and Pimentel addressing the gathering. (Details are treated exhaustively in the book.)
It is unfortunate that the PDP-Laban literature and documentation did not keep pace with this ideological development as Pimentel and the party were hurled into turbulence encompassing the country in the aftermath of 1986 EDSA Revolution.
Currently, the PDP-Laban in the hands of the party chairman, the country's president, is no longer occupied with the nuances of ideology. Government and the leadership are driven toward pragmatics - eliminating illegal drugs (at all costs), corruption in the bureaucracy, poverty alleviation, economic infrastructures, and pandemic mitigation, among others - all worthwhile concerns. But Duterte's parameters are now the PDP-Laban's and labels like Christian socialists or Christian democrats are irrelevant.
Even Sen. Koko Pimentel, disinherited heir, an accomplished politician in his own right, may no longer lay claim to the ideological soul of PDP-Laban. It lost its soul long ago once it allowed the tradpols entry. And like the Buddhist belief, is reincarnated into a lesser life.
The Pimentel-Mindanao PDP-Laban borne out of the turmoil of the 1970s and 1980s is condemned to simply draw on a baggage of nostalgia and the narratives of dying old comrades. But nostalgia and the hankering for past glories are a poor launching pad for electoral victory and eventual capture of political power. The old PDP-Laban went that route and it failed. Pragmatic political considerations are now in the hands of President Duterte and the traditional politicians whom the Pimentel pere et fils opened the party doors for. History will still have to judge the rectitude of this act.
But PDP-Laban will only exist until after the patron is gone. Perhaps by that time, PDP Laban will regain its ideological footing. Perhaps!
Next week, Aug. 18, 2021: The birthing of an ideological political party
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 04 August 2021 09:02
Two wings of the PDP-Laban: 1992 presidential elections - lost opportunities
Second of a series
THE PDP-Laban was part of the Corazon "Cory" Aquino ruling coalition in 1986, but a small segment, principally coming from Davao, Bohol and some Muslim areas, was opposed to the 1987 Constitution. Our group wanted Cory to extend her presidency beyond 1992 under a "revolutionary government," using an amended version of the March 25, 1986, Proclamation 3, adopting a Provisional Constitution. We felt the remnants of the Marcos government could successfully engineer a comeback while our fledgling democracy was still finding its footing; and the decades of the pre-martial law structures and traditional politics, buttressed by the clout of the old and new oligarchs and political dynasties, needed to be dismantled. The disparity between the rich and the poor was growing wider, and poverty alleviation was nowhere in sight. The core tenets of PDP-Laban were shunted aside by Cory: parliamentary government (adherents were narrowly defeated in the 1987 Constitutional Convention); the institutionalization of real political parties; the banning of political dynasties; and federalism, declaring she was not doing a Marcos - ruling by presidential decrees. She would restore democracy - however nebulous her concept of it was. In hindsight, the Philippines lost a rare opportunity for a systemic restructuring. Instead, she opted for a cosmetic facelift by just replacing overstaying Marcos local government officials within the same government structures with officers in charge (OIC) - a task assigned to the Interior and Local Government Secretary Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. (I was his undersecretary tasked to implement the OICs on the ground).
Cory's distaste for politics
Those were tumultuous years, 1986-1992, under this convent-bred saintly president - a tyro in the world of politics although married (and widowed) to a compleat traditional politico - who did not herself believe in political parties. She had no taste for politics, relying instead on advisers from the Catholic Church hierarchy, a smattering of Ninoy's political colleagues, personalities from the oligarchy, and the old moneyed political elite from whence she sprung and whose values she shared. She was in some ways a captive of her class. More importantly, she relied heavily on her close relatives, foremost among which was her Rasputin of a brother who held sway over the PDP-Laban as secretary general - Jose "Peping" Cojuangco.
But we were still hopeful that she would transcend this with the outpouring of love and adulation shown by the masses - whose values were not congruent with hers. But we were no match for the ruling class. Cory surrendered her prerogatives for real socioeconomic-political reforms by rejecting the people's gift - the 1986 Revolutionary Constitution. She then proceeded to embed her dogma in her 1987 Constitution that her son, President Benigno "PNoy" Aquino 3rd, vowed "not one of its comma be altered" during his regime.
'A Fragmented Political Coalition' (excerpts)
"The refusal of President Cory to run for another term (legitimate) under the new Constitution portended an open melee among her fragile EDSA People Power coalition. Among the contenders as Cory's successor, Speaker Ramon 'Monching' Mitra was the heavy favorite. An erstwhile PDP-Laban stalwart, and a Pimentel competitor, Mitra had the backing of President Cory's brother and the majority of the congressmen. But his image as the epitome of trapo was pervasive. In contrast, Fidel Ramos, now Secretary of Defense, was the 'non-politician' whose role as Cory's protector and the People Power hero - in the process rehabilitating himself from among the Marcos originals - was a huge positive albeit lacking a party machinery. He was enticed by Mitra to join the newly created Laban Democratic Party (LDP) and naively agreed for the convention to decide on one candidate. Mitra was chosen, whereupon Ramos bolted LDP and formed his Lakas-Tao, merging instead with Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus' NUCD, which provided the Christian Democrat ideology. FVR won the presidency and governed up to 1998. This was one of the biggest opportunity losses of PDP-Laban.
PDP-Laban and LP - ideological soulmates
"Cory made no secret of her preference for a Ramos-Pimentel tandem. Apparently, this didn't appeal to Pimentel as he felt ideologically bound to the avowed Christian Socialist Jovito Salonga and couldn't trust the rightist General Ramos, Marcos' one-time martial law implementor. But many in the PDP-Laban found Salonga unattractive. Since the PDP-Laban didn't have the wherewithal to field a complete presidential and senatorial slates, a coalition with another party was mulled over. PDP-Laban President 'Janet' Ferrer constituted a negotiating team to pursue talks with allies of President Cory to push for the dream slate.
"The negotiations failed. Nene Pimentel, defying the PDP-Laban national convention accepted Salonga's offer as his VP, with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) heading the senatorial slate.
"This split the PDP-Laban into several factions: a segment supporting President Cory's preference, Ramos-Osmeña of Lakas Tao-NUCD; and two major wings of the PDP Laban - the larger Pimentel-Salonga wing, and the PDP-Laban Secretary General Peping Cojuangco-led Mitra-Fernan LDP group. Both Raul Daza and I representing our parties were appointed as national co-campaign managers. (The PDP-Laban-Liberal Party coalition, however, is worth reviewing in some detail.)
Line-up unravels
"Early dawn of the day before the deadline for the filing of candidacies, former president Diosdado Macapagal wrote a letter to Salonga advising him of the withdrawal of daughter Gloria from the LP-PDP-Laban senatorial slate to run under the Ramos-Osmeña ticket instead. This precipitated a crisis and a rethinking of the slate, as Gloria in several surveys was consistently the only probable winner in the incomplete LP slate.
"Consequently, the Salonga-Pimentel campaign was a debacle. We couldn't raise the logistics and couldn't even put in place the crucial precinct poll watchers. And we created hundreds of disgruntled members and PDP-Laban candidates.
"With the two wings of the PDP-Laban unable to reconcile, the party remained in hiatus for the next three years 1992-1995 - until the assumption of Makati Mayor Jojo Binay at the helm, unifying the factions."
1992 and 2021: The Pimentels
Comparing scenarios, the Pimentel pere initiated the break in 1991 when he defied the PDP-Laban 8th national convention decision on May 12-13, 1990, in Laoag City, for him to run as PDP-Laban standard bearer in the 1992 presidential elections. His consenting to run with the LP's Salonga as the latter's vice president was a personal choice - not the party's, nor the wishes of President Cory who preferred him to run with Ramos. But he was still reluctantly supported by a majority of the original party intelligentsia.
Today's 2021 PDP-Laban's break-up is different yet curiously bears some similarities. The Pimentel fils abrogated his presidency, appointing Pacquiao "acting president" in contravention of party processes - the main issue that PDP-Laban chairman, President Duterte, has chosen to harp on. There was no way Koko Pimentel/Manny Pacquiao could withstand Duterte's ire.
Like the virus, the party has mutated. Duterte's wing is the only game in town. It is a small comfort that Nene Pimentel who nurtured it to its pinnacle is no longer around to witness his PDP-Laban's metamorphosis from "left of center" to "left or right" of...nothing!
Next week, Aug. 11. 2021: Revival of sorts
THE PDP-Laban was part of the Corazon "Cory" Aquino ruling coalition in 1986, but a small segment, principally coming from Davao, Bohol and some Muslim areas, was opposed to the 1987 Constitution. Our group wanted Cory to extend her presidency beyond 1992 under a "revolutionary government," using an amended version of the March 25, 1986, Proclamation 3, adopting a Provisional Constitution. We felt the remnants of the Marcos government could successfully engineer a comeback while our fledgling democracy was still finding its footing; and the decades of the pre-martial law structures and traditional politics, buttressed by the clout of the old and new oligarchs and political dynasties, needed to be dismantled. The disparity between the rich and the poor was growing wider, and poverty alleviation was nowhere in sight. The core tenets of PDP-Laban were shunted aside by Cory: parliamentary government (adherents were narrowly defeated in the 1987 Constitutional Convention); the institutionalization of real political parties; the banning of political dynasties; and federalism, declaring she was not doing a Marcos - ruling by presidential decrees. She would restore democracy - however nebulous her concept of it was. In hindsight, the Philippines lost a rare opportunity for a systemic restructuring. Instead, she opted for a cosmetic facelift by just replacing overstaying Marcos local government officials within the same government structures with officers in charge (OIC) - a task assigned to the Interior and Local Government Secretary Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. (I was his undersecretary tasked to implement the OICs on the ground).
Cory's distaste for politics
Those were tumultuous years, 1986-1992, under this convent-bred saintly president - a tyro in the world of politics although married (and widowed) to a compleat traditional politico - who did not herself believe in political parties. She had no taste for politics, relying instead on advisers from the Catholic Church hierarchy, a smattering of Ninoy's political colleagues, personalities from the oligarchy, and the old moneyed political elite from whence she sprung and whose values she shared. She was in some ways a captive of her class. More importantly, she relied heavily on her close relatives, foremost among which was her Rasputin of a brother who held sway over the PDP-Laban as secretary general - Jose "Peping" Cojuangco.
But we were still hopeful that she would transcend this with the outpouring of love and adulation shown by the masses - whose values were not congruent with hers. But we were no match for the ruling class. Cory surrendered her prerogatives for real socioeconomic-political reforms by rejecting the people's gift - the 1986 Revolutionary Constitution. She then proceeded to embed her dogma in her 1987 Constitution that her son, President Benigno "PNoy" Aquino 3rd, vowed "not one of its comma be altered" during his regime.
'A Fragmented Political Coalition' (excerpts)
"The refusal of President Cory to run for another term (legitimate) under the new Constitution portended an open melee among her fragile EDSA People Power coalition. Among the contenders as Cory's successor, Speaker Ramon 'Monching' Mitra was the heavy favorite. An erstwhile PDP-Laban stalwart, and a Pimentel competitor, Mitra had the backing of President Cory's brother and the majority of the congressmen. But his image as the epitome of trapo was pervasive. In contrast, Fidel Ramos, now Secretary of Defense, was the 'non-politician' whose role as Cory's protector and the People Power hero - in the process rehabilitating himself from among the Marcos originals - was a huge positive albeit lacking a party machinery. He was enticed by Mitra to join the newly created Laban Democratic Party (LDP) and naively agreed for the convention to decide on one candidate. Mitra was chosen, whereupon Ramos bolted LDP and formed his Lakas-Tao, merging instead with Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus' NUCD, which provided the Christian Democrat ideology. FVR won the presidency and governed up to 1998. This was one of the biggest opportunity losses of PDP-Laban.
PDP-Laban and LP - ideological soulmates
"Cory made no secret of her preference for a Ramos-Pimentel tandem. Apparently, this didn't appeal to Pimentel as he felt ideologically bound to the avowed Christian Socialist Jovito Salonga and couldn't trust the rightist General Ramos, Marcos' one-time martial law implementor. But many in the PDP-Laban found Salonga unattractive. Since the PDP-Laban didn't have the wherewithal to field a complete presidential and senatorial slates, a coalition with another party was mulled over. PDP-Laban President 'Janet' Ferrer constituted a negotiating team to pursue talks with allies of President Cory to push for the dream slate.
"The negotiations failed. Nene Pimentel, defying the PDP-Laban national convention accepted Salonga's offer as his VP, with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) heading the senatorial slate.
"This split the PDP-Laban into several factions: a segment supporting President Cory's preference, Ramos-Osmeña of Lakas Tao-NUCD; and two major wings of the PDP Laban - the larger Pimentel-Salonga wing, and the PDP-Laban Secretary General Peping Cojuangco-led Mitra-Fernan LDP group. Both Raul Daza and I representing our parties were appointed as national co-campaign managers. (The PDP-Laban-Liberal Party coalition, however, is worth reviewing in some detail.)
Line-up unravels
"Early dawn of the day before the deadline for the filing of candidacies, former president Diosdado Macapagal wrote a letter to Salonga advising him of the withdrawal of daughter Gloria from the LP-PDP-Laban senatorial slate to run under the Ramos-Osmeña ticket instead. This precipitated a crisis and a rethinking of the slate, as Gloria in several surveys was consistently the only probable winner in the incomplete LP slate.
"Consequently, the Salonga-Pimentel campaign was a debacle. We couldn't raise the logistics and couldn't even put in place the crucial precinct poll watchers. And we created hundreds of disgruntled members and PDP-Laban candidates.
"With the two wings of the PDP-Laban unable to reconcile, the party remained in hiatus for the next three years 1992-1995 - until the assumption of Makati Mayor Jojo Binay at the helm, unifying the factions."
1992 and 2021: The Pimentels
Comparing scenarios, the Pimentel pere initiated the break in 1991 when he defied the PDP-Laban 8th national convention decision on May 12-13, 1990, in Laoag City, for him to run as PDP-Laban standard bearer in the 1992 presidential elections. His consenting to run with the LP's Salonga as the latter's vice president was a personal choice - not the party's, nor the wishes of President Cory who preferred him to run with Ramos. But he was still reluctantly supported by a majority of the original party intelligentsia.
Today's 2021 PDP-Laban's break-up is different yet curiously bears some similarities. The Pimentel fils abrogated his presidency, appointing Pacquiao "acting president" in contravention of party processes - the main issue that PDP-Laban chairman, President Duterte, has chosen to harp on. There was no way Koko Pimentel/Manny Pacquiao could withstand Duterte's ire.
Like the virus, the party has mutated. Duterte's wing is the only game in town. It is a small comfort that Nene Pimentel who nurtured it to its pinnacle is no longer around to witness his PDP-Laban's metamorphosis from "left of center" to "left or right" of...nothing!
Next week, Aug. 11. 2021: Revival of sorts
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 28 July 2021 13:20
PDP-Laban 1982-2012
Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) marked its 30th anniversary with the launch of a coffee table book detailing the party’s history.
Click the link below:
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 28 July 2021 08:58
A brief history of PDP-Laban: The early 1980s
First of a series
EARLIER this month, we witnessed the fait accompli takeover of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the party that catapulted Rodrigo "Deegong" Duterte to the presidency in 2016. To recall, it was the symbiosis between Deegong and PDP-Laban that brought about this feat. But in some symbiotic relationship, one faction tends to be dominant - a twin in the womb cannibalizing a weak sibling, and the man was ruthless - from the time he ruled Davao as mayor and built a formidable political dynasty.
The instincts of PDP-Laban's eminence grise, Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., correctly assessed Duterte propelling PDP-Laban to greater heights; but failed to anticipate an ingrato's lament disparaging PDP-Laban as a "father and son political party," belittling the founder and insulting its adherents. Duterte was unknown in Davao in 1986. His mother, Nanay Soling, was the person we, the fledgling Davao PDP-Laban, wanted then-president Corazon Aquino to appoint as vice mayor to complement our then-officer in charge mayor Zafiro Respicio. The mother declined, substituting her son instead. Thus, the debut of the Deegong in politics. The rest is history!
Capture
In some ways, PDP-Laban's capture by Duterte and his minions was not totally unexpected. The intramurals could be traced back to the illegal precipitate appointment by Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel 3rd in December 2020 of Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao as "acting president," a violation of its cherished tenet - "party process." But this move was not done without rhyme or reason. Koko acceded to Manny's salivating for the Philippine presidency. It was perhaps Koko's means of wresting back control of the party post-Duterte - as a kingmaker to an unschooled and naive but rich politician bent on cashing in on his reputation as "ang pangbansang kamao." Except that Koko's and Manny's amateurish moves were too early. The Deegong will not be made a lame duck, the worst thing that can happen to an alpha-politician with an eye toward perpetuating his dynasty. PDP-Laban's deterioration was fast, deadly and immediate. Like Jojo Binay before him in July 2015, Pacquiao's premature declaration invited a political maelstrom guaranteeing an early downfall. With the Deegong acting as the puppeteer, he has caused his underlings to advance the idea of his running for the vice presidency. This keeps him in play preventing a lame-duck presidency. This script was a near repeat in Davao in 2010 when daughter Sara ran as mayor with Tatay as her vice. This kept the ambitious in his orbit at bay, stunned and immobilized.
I don't think the Deegong will run for VP under a marionette as titular president. I surmise Duterte will eventually allow Sara to run for the presidency in this "moro-moro." So far, Sara is doing excellently well, being coy - keeping her cards close to her chest, before calling "all in."
Meantime, the PDP-Laban will go the way of traditional political ruling parties - peopled by pragmatic and opportunistic powerful politicians with the acquiescence of the original intelligentsia providing cover with a patina of its ideological language and symbolisms having been co-opted, bought and paid for with sinecures and lucrative positions in government, undersecretary/assistant secretary appointments, and government board seats. The traditional symbolic "left hand swearing in" complementing the DDS "sieg-heil" of a fist bump will simply caricature their mumbo-jumbo tenets - makadiyos, makabayan, makatao, etc.
When Nene Pimentel invited a winnable presidentiable into the fold, it also marked the beginning of the end of his vision of building a sustainable ideologically correct political party, setting in motion its perversion by the most traditional political genius of them all. The Deegong! Nene's progeny at the helm never had a fighting chance.
In retrospect the current events recall a similar scenario eerily paralleling circumstances occurring 33 years ago. Nene Pimentel founded the party along with a handful of us from Cagayan de Oro and Davao shortly after the Manila 1978 "noise barrage." We named this Pilipino Democratic Party (PDP)-Partido Dapat sa Pilipino.
Political journey
These excerpts are from a yet unpublished book written by this columnist circa 1997:
"The transformation of the PDP-Laban as an ideology-based political party to one that became a traditionalist patronage-centered party was a slow burn. Several factors contributed to this conversion. For one, it has not really internalized the political principles it claimed to operate under within the three years of its early existence prior to being drawn to the Cory government after the 1986 People Power Revolution.
"The critical mechanism to provide and imprint the Christian Social Democratic creed to its members and acolytes through the basic membership seminars (BMS) was not successfully put in place. What originally started as a three-day immersion on party tenets that began in Mindanao was cast aside once PDP decided to merge with Ninoy Aquino's Lakas ng Bayan (Laban). A critical mass of membership may have been attained but the inculcation of the ideological precepts did not keep in step.
"The PDP was an innovative idea from successful European models. It was not meant to be just transplanted from these mature societies, but certain features could be adapted to counter home-grown patronage-based politics. PDP was then touted as 'left of center' of the political spectrum with its Jesuit-influenced founders, steeped in Christian social teachings articulated through the papal encyclicals.
"A true ideology-based Filipino version of a political party that reflected the profile of its society was envisioned; a mass-based dues-paying membership, free from the shackles of patronage; practicing internal democracy in its methods and choices; a collective leadership whose decision-making process is arrived at through consensus; and one that must serve its community requiring its continued existence beyond campaign and election periods. This was the PDP we envisioned.
Internalization of concepts
"The three years of organizing (1982-1985), was not enough to internalize these concepts, so one by one, these tenets were surrendered to the exigencies of the times. The first to go was the P250 annual dues. What was meant to fund the party's basic needs and give the members a sense of ownership was eliminated by the populist arguments that the amounts were too much for the poor members to pay. So, the party had to revert to the patronage system where members look up to their local leaders to have their dues paid, for the privilege of membership and voting rights.
"When it was conceptualized in Mindanao, PDP was religious in conducting the three-day basic membership seminars (BMS). This was meant for the party members to imbibe the basis for the party's existence, its principles, platforms and structures. This type of immersion was necessary to enable prospective members to form friendships, deepen bonds and foment trust especially under martial law conditions. But the organizing reached fever pitch after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. All steps were eliminated to gain adherents and warm bodies. Peping Cojuangco, Cory's brother, with the acquiescence of the "leadership in Metro Manila, did away with the intensive BMS and exacted the half-day sessions. This twin decisions to eliminate membership dues and shorten the BMS opened the party to the onslaught of shrewd politicians steeped in the ways of traditional politics."
Next week, Aug. 4, 2021: Two wings of PDP-Laban
EARLIER this month, we witnessed the fait accompli takeover of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the party that catapulted Rodrigo "Deegong" Duterte to the presidency in 2016. To recall, it was the symbiosis between Deegong and PDP-Laban that brought about this feat. But in some symbiotic relationship, one faction tends to be dominant - a twin in the womb cannibalizing a weak sibling, and the man was ruthless - from the time he ruled Davao as mayor and built a formidable political dynasty.
The instincts of PDP-Laban's eminence grise, Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., correctly assessed Duterte propelling PDP-Laban to greater heights; but failed to anticipate an ingrato's lament disparaging PDP-Laban as a "father and son political party," belittling the founder and insulting its adherents. Duterte was unknown in Davao in 1986. His mother, Nanay Soling, was the person we, the fledgling Davao PDP-Laban, wanted then-president Corazon Aquino to appoint as vice mayor to complement our then-officer in charge mayor Zafiro Respicio. The mother declined, substituting her son instead. Thus, the debut of the Deegong in politics. The rest is history!
Capture
In some ways, PDP-Laban's capture by Duterte and his minions was not totally unexpected. The intramurals could be traced back to the illegal precipitate appointment by Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel 3rd in December 2020 of Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao as "acting president," a violation of its cherished tenet - "party process." But this move was not done without rhyme or reason. Koko acceded to Manny's salivating for the Philippine presidency. It was perhaps Koko's means of wresting back control of the party post-Duterte - as a kingmaker to an unschooled and naive but rich politician bent on cashing in on his reputation as "ang pangbansang kamao." Except that Koko's and Manny's amateurish moves were too early. The Deegong will not be made a lame duck, the worst thing that can happen to an alpha-politician with an eye toward perpetuating his dynasty. PDP-Laban's deterioration was fast, deadly and immediate. Like Jojo Binay before him in July 2015, Pacquiao's premature declaration invited a political maelstrom guaranteeing an early downfall. With the Deegong acting as the puppeteer, he has caused his underlings to advance the idea of his running for the vice presidency. This keeps him in play preventing a lame-duck presidency. This script was a near repeat in Davao in 2010 when daughter Sara ran as mayor with Tatay as her vice. This kept the ambitious in his orbit at bay, stunned and immobilized.
I don't think the Deegong will run for VP under a marionette as titular president. I surmise Duterte will eventually allow Sara to run for the presidency in this "moro-moro." So far, Sara is doing excellently well, being coy - keeping her cards close to her chest, before calling "all in."
Meantime, the PDP-Laban will go the way of traditional political ruling parties - peopled by pragmatic and opportunistic powerful politicians with the acquiescence of the original intelligentsia providing cover with a patina of its ideological language and symbolisms having been co-opted, bought and paid for with sinecures and lucrative positions in government, undersecretary/assistant secretary appointments, and government board seats. The traditional symbolic "left hand swearing in" complementing the DDS "sieg-heil" of a fist bump will simply caricature their mumbo-jumbo tenets - makadiyos, makabayan, makatao, etc.
When Nene Pimentel invited a winnable presidentiable into the fold, it also marked the beginning of the end of his vision of building a sustainable ideologically correct political party, setting in motion its perversion by the most traditional political genius of them all. The Deegong! Nene's progeny at the helm never had a fighting chance.
In retrospect the current events recall a similar scenario eerily paralleling circumstances occurring 33 years ago. Nene Pimentel founded the party along with a handful of us from Cagayan de Oro and Davao shortly after the Manila 1978 "noise barrage." We named this Pilipino Democratic Party (PDP)-Partido Dapat sa Pilipino.
Political journey
These excerpts are from a yet unpublished book written by this columnist circa 1997:
"The transformation of the PDP-Laban as an ideology-based political party to one that became a traditionalist patronage-centered party was a slow burn. Several factors contributed to this conversion. For one, it has not really internalized the political principles it claimed to operate under within the three years of its early existence prior to being drawn to the Cory government after the 1986 People Power Revolution.
"The critical mechanism to provide and imprint the Christian Social Democratic creed to its members and acolytes through the basic membership seminars (BMS) was not successfully put in place. What originally started as a three-day immersion on party tenets that began in Mindanao was cast aside once PDP decided to merge with Ninoy Aquino's Lakas ng Bayan (Laban). A critical mass of membership may have been attained but the inculcation of the ideological precepts did not keep in step.
"The PDP was an innovative idea from successful European models. It was not meant to be just transplanted from these mature societies, but certain features could be adapted to counter home-grown patronage-based politics. PDP was then touted as 'left of center' of the political spectrum with its Jesuit-influenced founders, steeped in Christian social teachings articulated through the papal encyclicals.
"A true ideology-based Filipino version of a political party that reflected the profile of its society was envisioned; a mass-based dues-paying membership, free from the shackles of patronage; practicing internal democracy in its methods and choices; a collective leadership whose decision-making process is arrived at through consensus; and one that must serve its community requiring its continued existence beyond campaign and election periods. This was the PDP we envisioned.
Internalization of concepts
"The three years of organizing (1982-1985), was not enough to internalize these concepts, so one by one, these tenets were surrendered to the exigencies of the times. The first to go was the P250 annual dues. What was meant to fund the party's basic needs and give the members a sense of ownership was eliminated by the populist arguments that the amounts were too much for the poor members to pay. So, the party had to revert to the patronage system where members look up to their local leaders to have their dues paid, for the privilege of membership and voting rights.
"When it was conceptualized in Mindanao, PDP was religious in conducting the three-day basic membership seminars (BMS). This was meant for the party members to imbibe the basis for the party's existence, its principles, platforms and structures. This type of immersion was necessary to enable prospective members to form friendships, deepen bonds and foment trust especially under martial law conditions. But the organizing reached fever pitch after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. All steps were eliminated to gain adherents and warm bodies. Peping Cojuangco, Cory's brother, with the acquiescence of the "leadership in Metro Manila, did away with the intensive BMS and exacted the half-day sessions. This twin decisions to eliminate membership dues and shorten the BMS opened the party to the onslaught of shrewd politicians steeped in the ways of traditional politics."
Next week, Aug. 4, 2021: Two wings of PDP-Laban
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 21 July 2021 11:21
Political parties - what we need are real ones
Fourth of a series
THIS column could best be appreciated within the context of today's deadly internecine fight in the ruling party with an eye on the political upheaval five decades ago. I start from the Marcos dictatorship years, underscoring democracy's loss and subsequently extolling its return in the 1986 People Power Revolution when then-president Corazon "Cory" Aquino declared that her main concern as a "housewife-president" was to bring back democracy. Little did we know then that what she brought back was really just a veneer of democracy. We were so taken with the euphoria of having booted out the dictator Marcos that, looking back now - given the 20/20 hindsight vision - we were in denial.
People are now skeptical whether the five decades of this brand of democracy is right for us. From its inception, the country has inexorably marched toward political oblivion. Our leadership has perpetuated this democratic fiction for so long that its deficits are tolerated as typical and natural to the system. We see by now that the main beneficiary of this deceit is our oligarchy and its allies, the political dynasties. These simply flourish in this type of democracy.
What was meant to be the vehicle for people empowerment, as enshrined in the 1987 Constitution, resulted in a proliferation of single-issue political parties championing eclectic though narrow causes under a party-list system: from the interest of farmers and fisherfolk to the advocacies of coconut farmers and banana growers, concerns of the security guards and jeepney drivers, and even the welfare of artists and electricity consumers and cooperatives. A maximum of three slots are allotted through a minimum number of universal votes, adding performers enhancing Congress' already circus-like debauchery. The party-list system, lifted from the German model, was perverted to suit the Filipino politician's penchant for freeloading off resources from government.
On the national level, large political parties are underwritten by party bigwigs, oligarchs and self-proclaimed candidates chosen in the proverbial "smoked-filled rooms." Thus, they retain their prerogatives to dictate what programs and platforms, if any, to present to voters. Political manna constantly flows from the incumbent regime inducing a massive exodus from out-of-power parties resulting in a merry-go-round where opportunistic politicians are PDP-Laban today, Liberal Party in the past regime, Lakas-NUCD before that and KBL during the dictatorship. Tomorrow, they may flock toward Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
Political parties and elections
In this country, elections are seldom the expression of the people's will. It is one dimension of the monopoly of power allowed by a few dynastic families and allies to perpetuate their decades-long hegemony on the body politic, thus stunting society's development. As a corollary to this, the people's lack of civic and political education exacerbates the situation resulting in an immature and subservient political culture.
The abrogation of all these is imperative. The antithesis is the creation and institutionalization of real political parties that could aggregate the varied aspirations of the citizenry giving them options - including the decision to emerge from their ignorance - thus breaking out of the clutches of the dynasties.
In more modern developed countries, political parties are the "sine qua non" of a vibrant democracy. They are not vessels for personal electoral survival and perpetuation in power of dynastic political families. They exist because the citizenry, the wellspring and final arbiter of political power, have diverse issues and concerns that need to be articulated and amplified to a wider political domain. Political parties must provide them with real choices.
From the Centrist Democrats (CD) manuals and literature (www.cdpi.asia, CDP/CDM/CDPI manuals):
"Political parties are the primary vehicles to gain political power by engaging themselves in political contests, primarily elections. The members and their leadership are expected to adhere to a set of principles and strategies written in a platform unique to that party. This espousal of a vision of governance defines the ideological identity of that party - and therefore, the electorate must be permitted a patent choice - as to who must govern them based on what the candidates and their respective parties stand for."
These political parties exist abroad, principally in Germany, Great Britain, and even in the US prior to Trumpism. Their best practices could be adopted, such as dues-paying membership and year-round activities.
Parties must be membership-based
Political parties as in any organization need warm bodies, advocating shared interest, expanding growth of adherents and voters, as means for eventual political control. These activities require logistics from a diversity of sources. Membership dues are the obvious main source. In the Philippines, political party members seldom pay dues. Therefore they have no real stake in them. The real stakeholders are the financiers.
Building solid finances principally from members and like-minded allies and instituting transparent financial management can free the membership from dependence and control of a few rich personalities within.
Off-election season activities
The reality on the ground is that political parties are only active during election season. Off-season, they tend to "hibernate." Ideally in between campaign periods, elected representatives must conduct continuous dialogue with the people and the institutions that govern them. Representatives need constant feedback from citizens so they may understand changing realities on the ground. Throughout each year, their political parties should organize projects and activities, advocacies and internal training sessions with its members participating actively.
They need to strictly exercise internal democratic procedures, from inception and execution of programs and activities to the selection of their leaders or the nomination of candidates for public offices.
They need to impose party discipline, not allowing their leaders or elected representatives in public offices to contradict party policy decisions, except in rare cases of personal conscience-driven issues.
The party must have its own rules for its members to abide by and should be the training ground for the leaders of the country.
Consequently, only parties which are member-based, possessing internal democratic structures and procedures and clear program orientation should be permitted to field candidates for elections. These should all be covered by law.
Reforms needed
To enforce the desired profile of real political parties we need immediate reforms in our political party system short of the 1987 constitutional revisions. Meantime these reforms can be achieved through the passing of the proposed Political Party Development and Financing Act (a bill that has been pending in Congress for several years) which will:
1. Penalize "turncoatism" (or the switching of political parties, "balimbing," "political butterfly") and expulsion from elective public offices and party membership if their acts are deemed inimical to party principles.
2. Enforce transparent mechanisms providing and regulating campaign financing to eliminate graft, corruption and patronage (corporate and individual contributions).
3. Institute strict state subsidy that will professionalize political parties by supporting their political education and campaign initiatives (currently being done in European countries).
No political reform has ever been done by the current regime. But it is not too late while the PDP-Laban though in disarray still has cohorts in Congress and are in control of the legislative agenda. What is lacking is the political will to ram this through.
Is the Deegong still up to it?
THIS column could best be appreciated within the context of today's deadly internecine fight in the ruling party with an eye on the political upheaval five decades ago. I start from the Marcos dictatorship years, underscoring democracy's loss and subsequently extolling its return in the 1986 People Power Revolution when then-president Corazon "Cory" Aquino declared that her main concern as a "housewife-president" was to bring back democracy. Little did we know then that what she brought back was really just a veneer of democracy. We were so taken with the euphoria of having booted out the dictator Marcos that, looking back now - given the 20/20 hindsight vision - we were in denial.
People are now skeptical whether the five decades of this brand of democracy is right for us. From its inception, the country has inexorably marched toward political oblivion. Our leadership has perpetuated this democratic fiction for so long that its deficits are tolerated as typical and natural to the system. We see by now that the main beneficiary of this deceit is our oligarchy and its allies, the political dynasties. These simply flourish in this type of democracy.
What was meant to be the vehicle for people empowerment, as enshrined in the 1987 Constitution, resulted in a proliferation of single-issue political parties championing eclectic though narrow causes under a party-list system: from the interest of farmers and fisherfolk to the advocacies of coconut farmers and banana growers, concerns of the security guards and jeepney drivers, and even the welfare of artists and electricity consumers and cooperatives. A maximum of three slots are allotted through a minimum number of universal votes, adding performers enhancing Congress' already circus-like debauchery. The party-list system, lifted from the German model, was perverted to suit the Filipino politician's penchant for freeloading off resources from government.
On the national level, large political parties are underwritten by party bigwigs, oligarchs and self-proclaimed candidates chosen in the proverbial "smoked-filled rooms." Thus, they retain their prerogatives to dictate what programs and platforms, if any, to present to voters. Political manna constantly flows from the incumbent regime inducing a massive exodus from out-of-power parties resulting in a merry-go-round where opportunistic politicians are PDP-Laban today, Liberal Party in the past regime, Lakas-NUCD before that and KBL during the dictatorship. Tomorrow, they may flock toward Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
Political parties and elections
In this country, elections are seldom the expression of the people's will. It is one dimension of the monopoly of power allowed by a few dynastic families and allies to perpetuate their decades-long hegemony on the body politic, thus stunting society's development. As a corollary to this, the people's lack of civic and political education exacerbates the situation resulting in an immature and subservient political culture.
The abrogation of all these is imperative. The antithesis is the creation and institutionalization of real political parties that could aggregate the varied aspirations of the citizenry giving them options - including the decision to emerge from their ignorance - thus breaking out of the clutches of the dynasties.
In more modern developed countries, political parties are the "sine qua non" of a vibrant democracy. They are not vessels for personal electoral survival and perpetuation in power of dynastic political families. They exist because the citizenry, the wellspring and final arbiter of political power, have diverse issues and concerns that need to be articulated and amplified to a wider political domain. Political parties must provide them with real choices.
From the Centrist Democrats (CD) manuals and literature (www.cdpi.asia, CDP/CDM/CDPI manuals):
"Political parties are the primary vehicles to gain political power by engaging themselves in political contests, primarily elections. The members and their leadership are expected to adhere to a set of principles and strategies written in a platform unique to that party. This espousal of a vision of governance defines the ideological identity of that party - and therefore, the electorate must be permitted a patent choice - as to who must govern them based on what the candidates and their respective parties stand for."
These political parties exist abroad, principally in Germany, Great Britain, and even in the US prior to Trumpism. Their best practices could be adopted, such as dues-paying membership and year-round activities.
Parties must be membership-based
Political parties as in any organization need warm bodies, advocating shared interest, expanding growth of adherents and voters, as means for eventual political control. These activities require logistics from a diversity of sources. Membership dues are the obvious main source. In the Philippines, political party members seldom pay dues. Therefore they have no real stake in them. The real stakeholders are the financiers.
Building solid finances principally from members and like-minded allies and instituting transparent financial management can free the membership from dependence and control of a few rich personalities within.
Off-election season activities
The reality on the ground is that political parties are only active during election season. Off-season, they tend to "hibernate." Ideally in between campaign periods, elected representatives must conduct continuous dialogue with the people and the institutions that govern them. Representatives need constant feedback from citizens so they may understand changing realities on the ground. Throughout each year, their political parties should organize projects and activities, advocacies and internal training sessions with its members participating actively.
They need to strictly exercise internal democratic procedures, from inception and execution of programs and activities to the selection of their leaders or the nomination of candidates for public offices.
They need to impose party discipline, not allowing their leaders or elected representatives in public offices to contradict party policy decisions, except in rare cases of personal conscience-driven issues.
The party must have its own rules for its members to abide by and should be the training ground for the leaders of the country.
Consequently, only parties which are member-based, possessing internal democratic structures and procedures and clear program orientation should be permitted to field candidates for elections. These should all be covered by law.
Reforms needed
To enforce the desired profile of real political parties we need immediate reforms in our political party system short of the 1987 constitutional revisions. Meantime these reforms can be achieved through the passing of the proposed Political Party Development and Financing Act (a bill that has been pending in Congress for several years) which will:
1. Penalize "turncoatism" (or the switching of political parties, "balimbing," "political butterfly") and expulsion from elective public offices and party membership if their acts are deemed inimical to party principles.
2. Enforce transparent mechanisms providing and regulating campaign financing to eliminate graft, corruption and patronage (corporate and individual contributions).
3. Institute strict state subsidy that will professionalize political parties by supporting their political education and campaign initiatives (currently being done in European countries).
No political reform has ever been done by the current regime. But it is not too late while the PDP-Laban though in disarray still has cohorts in Congress and are in control of the legislative agenda. What is lacking is the political will to ram this through.
Is the Deegong still up to it?
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 10:04
Political parties - what we have
Third of a series
THE Partido Federalista (Federal Party) was the first Philippine political party allowed by our colonials in the 1900, which pushed for our annexation as a US state. The Nacionalista Party was founded shortly after to advocate for the opposite view - immediate Philippine independence. Several iterations of these advocacies emerged over the years until the liberal wing of the Nacionalista broke away and formed the Liberal Party. These two old groupings were the closest the Philippines had to a two-party system until President Ferdinand Marcos, a member of both parties at certain times, imposed martial law in 1972 and President Corazon "Cory" Aquino,, who did not believe in political parties, allowed the proliferation of the multiparty system in the 1987 Constitution.
Midterm elections
National elections are always a referendum on the current occupant of Malacañang. Last midterm, the Otso Diretso opposition, a motley group of Liberal, Akbayan, Magdalo party-list and Aksyon Demokratiko political parties were obliterated. The Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) catapulted four PDP-Laban partymates, two of whom were political neophytes and Duterte's underlings - Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa - to the Senate, capturing the third and fifth places. In total, HNP won nine of the 12 seats with one seat each for the veteran senators with their own personal political base: the ex-movie actor Lito Lapid of NPC and two other reelectionists, Nancy Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and Mary Grace Poe, an independent.
This triumph was attributed more to the charisma of Duterte rather than to the PDP-Laban and perhaps the bankruptcy of the moral ascendancy of the opposition. More importantly, this evokes a truism in Philippine patronage politics: that the patron's influence, in this case, the sitting president is all-pervasive in wielding power without compunction using the entire government resources at its disposal running over the political opposition any which way.
HNP is a regional political alliance formed by the President's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, to support the father's candidacy - a personal vehicle simply for the purpose of winning elections with no pretenses to ideological fervor except PRRD's nebulous concept of federalism, emancipation from "Imperial Manila" and war on drugs, issues that resonated with the periphery. On these credentials as a federalist and an outsider, he was enticed to assume the presidency of the PDP-Laban - an anti-martial law party that originally occupied the left-of-center space in the political spectrum. Federalism was a major tenet of the party until Duterte dropped this advocacy in 2019 leaving the PDP-Laban and adherents high and dry. Currently, he is party chairman while Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquaio, his erstwhile sycophant turned adversary, holds the presidency.
Pacquiao ran under his personal People's Champ Movement (PCM) solely on his boxing creds in coalition with UNA. He was also allied or a member of the Liberal, Kampi-Lakas-CMD (Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats), and Nacionalista parties at certain times. Duterte himself ran under several political groupings, once joining the Nacionalista, won as congressman under the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Coalition and as city chairman of the Liberal Party in 2009.
Convoluted political parties
This phenomenon, almost exclusively Filipino, is known as the "political butterfly" syndrome. In this context, switching political parties is akin to chameleons changing their skin color perfunctorily. Politicians with the temerity to stay affiliated out of principles and values are rare. They are an endangered species. This is descriptive of a paucity of ideological perspectives and politicians bereft of moral compass anchored on patent expediency. These defections are rampant on the shifting winds of political fortunes and purely done for political survival.
Almost all of the political parties in the Philippines are structured in a manner that hew closely to the centuries-old patronage system. The patron (in this case the sitting president) who provides the funds makes almost all of the party decisions, especially with regard to those slated to run for elective positions; the central/executive committees are usually manned by their allies and subalterns; and there are no real offices and party activities year-round except during election periods.
Invariably, political parties do not have a uniquely consistent set of beliefs that distinguishes one from the other; at most they proffer slogans and motherhood statements that pass for political doctrines. Their political agenda is predictably directed toward the preservation of elective members' prerogatives, ensuring the continued accumulation of pelf and privileges for themselves, their families and their allies. Individual programs and family interest, perforce, have precedence over that of a political party's collective appreciation of society's needs. And once they are gifted the privilege to govern, public policies are instituted on the fly emanating from the framework of traditional political practices, their comprehension of national issues seen subjectively through the prism of personal and family interests, thus perpetuating the existing flawed political institutions.
PDP-Laban's disintegration
From Duterte's ascendancy, the PDP Laban sheltered within the halo of Duterte's influence, exuberant in this new regime of political clout conducted an indiscriminate wholesale recruitment of "trapos" from other political parties whose ideological precepts run counter to that which the original PDP-Laban holds dear. This was ostensibly advantageous - following the precepts of "politics is addition" - as its agenda has found advocacy in the two houses of Congress, provided they don't run in conflict with the vested interests of the senators, congressmen, their respective political dynasties and their allies in the oligarchy. This is double-edged as the originals and intelligentsia of the party - derisively described as "unelected and unelectable true-believers" by the trapos are invariably shunted aside - except for those gifted with sinecures in the cabinet, the bureaucracies, appointed undersecretaries and assistant secretaries and government board seats. Unwittingly their interests have become aligned with those of the new political power brokers - worse, these "political butterflies" crafting an agenda inimical to the PDP-Laban's purported left-of-center profile are now lording over it. These "true believers" backbone of the party at its inception and growth possessing no political power are reduced to a pathetic few, their political carcasses left strewn all over the place.
The PDP-Laban has splintered. The "unelected president," Pacquiao, questioned by the original members for usurping the party presidency, has his eye on the Philippine's presidency. It seems that Manny hasn't undergone "Basic Orientation Seminar" (BOS) for party membership but was offered the presidency by the past president Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel 3rd, whose own presidency was likewise questioned by the "originals," accused of having illegally assumed the post after VP Binay (the past party president) left in 2009. Apparently, Koko never called a national council meeting as the party constitution required to affirm his presidency. Eventually the PDP-Laban national assembly met in July 2018 and former MP (Congressman) Rogelio "Bik-Bik" Garcia, an original, was elected president. A rump national assembly was recently called by another personality appearing out of the woodwork - Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, presumably with the Deegong's imprimatur calling for Duterte to run in 2020 as VP, with whoever PDP-Laban chooses as its presidential candidate.
Where is the Deegong in all of these? Recalling presidential spokesman Harry Roque's declaration, ages ago: "Hugpong ng Pagbabago, not PDP-Laban, is the President's party. Hugpong has always been his political party ever since he ran for mayor of Davao City 23 years ago."
Next week, July 21, 2021: Political parties - what we want
THE Partido Federalista (Federal Party) was the first Philippine political party allowed by our colonials in the 1900, which pushed for our annexation as a US state. The Nacionalista Party was founded shortly after to advocate for the opposite view - immediate Philippine independence. Several iterations of these advocacies emerged over the years until the liberal wing of the Nacionalista broke away and formed the Liberal Party. These two old groupings were the closest the Philippines had to a two-party system until President Ferdinand Marcos, a member of both parties at certain times, imposed martial law in 1972 and President Corazon "Cory" Aquino,, who did not believe in political parties, allowed the proliferation of the multiparty system in the 1987 Constitution.
Midterm elections
National elections are always a referendum on the current occupant of Malacañang. Last midterm, the Otso Diretso opposition, a motley group of Liberal, Akbayan, Magdalo party-list and Aksyon Demokratiko political parties were obliterated. The Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) catapulted four PDP-Laban partymates, two of whom were political neophytes and Duterte's underlings - Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa - to the Senate, capturing the third and fifth places. In total, HNP won nine of the 12 seats with one seat each for the veteran senators with their own personal political base: the ex-movie actor Lito Lapid of NPC and two other reelectionists, Nancy Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and Mary Grace Poe, an independent.
This triumph was attributed more to the charisma of Duterte rather than to the PDP-Laban and perhaps the bankruptcy of the moral ascendancy of the opposition. More importantly, this evokes a truism in Philippine patronage politics: that the patron's influence, in this case, the sitting president is all-pervasive in wielding power without compunction using the entire government resources at its disposal running over the political opposition any which way.
HNP is a regional political alliance formed by the President's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, to support the father's candidacy - a personal vehicle simply for the purpose of winning elections with no pretenses to ideological fervor except PRRD's nebulous concept of federalism, emancipation from "Imperial Manila" and war on drugs, issues that resonated with the periphery. On these credentials as a federalist and an outsider, he was enticed to assume the presidency of the PDP-Laban - an anti-martial law party that originally occupied the left-of-center space in the political spectrum. Federalism was a major tenet of the party until Duterte dropped this advocacy in 2019 leaving the PDP-Laban and adherents high and dry. Currently, he is party chairman while Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquaio, his erstwhile sycophant turned adversary, holds the presidency.
Pacquiao ran under his personal People's Champ Movement (PCM) solely on his boxing creds in coalition with UNA. He was also allied or a member of the Liberal, Kampi-Lakas-CMD (Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats), and Nacionalista parties at certain times. Duterte himself ran under several political groupings, once joining the Nacionalista, won as congressman under the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Coalition and as city chairman of the Liberal Party in 2009.
Convoluted political parties
This phenomenon, almost exclusively Filipino, is known as the "political butterfly" syndrome. In this context, switching political parties is akin to chameleons changing their skin color perfunctorily. Politicians with the temerity to stay affiliated out of principles and values are rare. They are an endangered species. This is descriptive of a paucity of ideological perspectives and politicians bereft of moral compass anchored on patent expediency. These defections are rampant on the shifting winds of political fortunes and purely done for political survival.
Almost all of the political parties in the Philippines are structured in a manner that hew closely to the centuries-old patronage system. The patron (in this case the sitting president) who provides the funds makes almost all of the party decisions, especially with regard to those slated to run for elective positions; the central/executive committees are usually manned by their allies and subalterns; and there are no real offices and party activities year-round except during election periods.
Invariably, political parties do not have a uniquely consistent set of beliefs that distinguishes one from the other; at most they proffer slogans and motherhood statements that pass for political doctrines. Their political agenda is predictably directed toward the preservation of elective members' prerogatives, ensuring the continued accumulation of pelf and privileges for themselves, their families and their allies. Individual programs and family interest, perforce, have precedence over that of a political party's collective appreciation of society's needs. And once they are gifted the privilege to govern, public policies are instituted on the fly emanating from the framework of traditional political practices, their comprehension of national issues seen subjectively through the prism of personal and family interests, thus perpetuating the existing flawed political institutions.
PDP-Laban's disintegration
From Duterte's ascendancy, the PDP Laban sheltered within the halo of Duterte's influence, exuberant in this new regime of political clout conducted an indiscriminate wholesale recruitment of "trapos" from other political parties whose ideological precepts run counter to that which the original PDP-Laban holds dear. This was ostensibly advantageous - following the precepts of "politics is addition" - as its agenda has found advocacy in the two houses of Congress, provided they don't run in conflict with the vested interests of the senators, congressmen, their respective political dynasties and their allies in the oligarchy. This is double-edged as the originals and intelligentsia of the party - derisively described as "unelected and unelectable true-believers" by the trapos are invariably shunted aside - except for those gifted with sinecures in the cabinet, the bureaucracies, appointed undersecretaries and assistant secretaries and government board seats. Unwittingly their interests have become aligned with those of the new political power brokers - worse, these "political butterflies" crafting an agenda inimical to the PDP-Laban's purported left-of-center profile are now lording over it. These "true believers" backbone of the party at its inception and growth possessing no political power are reduced to a pathetic few, their political carcasses left strewn all over the place.
The PDP-Laban has splintered. The "unelected president," Pacquiao, questioned by the original members for usurping the party presidency, has his eye on the Philippine's presidency. It seems that Manny hasn't undergone "Basic Orientation Seminar" (BOS) for party membership but was offered the presidency by the past president Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel 3rd, whose own presidency was likewise questioned by the "originals," accused of having illegally assumed the post after VP Binay (the past party president) left in 2009. Apparently, Koko never called a national council meeting as the party constitution required to affirm his presidency. Eventually the PDP-Laban national assembly met in July 2018 and former MP (Congressman) Rogelio "Bik-Bik" Garcia, an original, was elected president. A rump national assembly was recently called by another personality appearing out of the woodwork - Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, presumably with the Deegong's imprimatur calling for Duterte to run in 2020 as VP, with whoever PDP-Laban chooses as its presidential candidate.
Where is the Deegong in all of these? Recalling presidential spokesman Harry Roque's declaration, ages ago: "Hugpong ng Pagbabago, not PDP-Laban, is the President's party. Hugpong has always been his political party ever since he ran for mayor of Davao City 23 years ago."
Next week, July 21, 2021: Political parties - what we want
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 07 July 2021 11:53
Fixing a dysfunctional system
AS discussed in the first part of this series last week, political patronage is central to what ails our system of governance. Professor Jose "Pepe" Abueva, citing Gunnar Myrdal's book, Asian Drama, depicts the Philippines as a soft state and a weak nation, arguing that it is unable to apply the law equally to all its citizens. Our institutions are captives of the oligarchy and serve mostly their interest and that of the few rich allies and powerful politicians. Our leaders failed to unite and inspire our diverse peoples as a nation. These are symptoms of political patronage, peripherals feeding on themselves, defining us after centuries of this practice.
Former chief justice Renato Puno referred to our dysfunctional democracy in one of his speeches: "I like to stress the failure of our electoral system to excise the virus of the politics of patronage that has infected our so-called elections...xxx...This vicious politics of patronage has allowed few oligarchs and bosses to rule us from colonial times to post-colonial times, and their rule has brought us nothing but a facade of democracy, its mirage but not its miracle."
Furthermore, the agenda of the oligarchy, the political dynasties, clans and cabals who get their candidates elected allow their legitimate capture of state institutions. They build on this dominance and perpetuate themselves in power, positions and wealth. It is unfortunate that all these deformities are intertwined and protected by the 1987 Constitution.
It will be recalled that the US-sponsored 1935 Constitution was the overriding political document governing our political life until replaced by the Marcos 1973 Constitution, which was then abrogated by the 1986 Edsa People Power revolution. These authorizations contain the structures underpinning our dysfunctional system of governance buttressed by deleterious provisions evolving into what was to become the Cory Constitution of 1987. (These will be apt topics for dissection in future columns.)
1987 Constitution
Subsequently, the socio-political-economic system fashioned by and for the elite and the oligarchy enshrined in the 1987 Constitution has so constricted an all-encompassing growth unable to keep pace with progress and the changing needs of society. The irony of it all is that laws perpetuating these deficits are legitimately framed by those controlling the levers of political and economic power - the two lawmaking bodies, the Senate and the House - bastions of the oligarchy and political dynasties.
On the economic front, these defects are attributed to the constitutional provisions restricting foreign direct investments (FDI) attracting foreign technology and capital that create jobs. Here, the role of the State is to provide a supportive framework, spurring inclusive growth and not be a direct participant competing with the private sector in an interplay of free market mechanisms. In the homegrown basic sectors, there needs to be a restructuring and modernization of agriculture and fisheries and a rethinking of investments in the mining industry; and the reform of progressive taxation policies that shifts the burden from income to consumption.
Charter change
Political and socioeconomic reforms require revisions of the 1987 Constitution. But every post-Cory administration has failed at critical reforms - from FVR's 1997 Pirma to Erap's 1999 Concord to GMA's 2005 Consultative Commission (ConCom) ending with Duterte's 2018 Constitutional Committee (Concom).
Looking beyond the limits of our discretion, it is hard to find a country that has not amended or revised its constitution in 30 years. In a nutshell, we are unable to tackle the most severe problems within our existing system.
Our leadership fatuously pays lip service to change, pagbabago, but sorely lacks the courage to take it to the finish line - a bankruptcy of political will. No president can permanently alter our realities without overhauling our decaying system. Only when the imperatives of good leadership and governance are put in play can we cure our ailing political system.
President Benigno Aquino 3rd (may he rest in peace) made it very clear that he never wanted to modify "a comma in his mother's constitution"; as if Charter change were a sacrilege.
Parliamentary system
Our presidential system does not provide a sufficient degree of checks and balances for constancy. The executive and the legislative branches are intermittently at odds resulting in gridlocks. Our colonial past inculcated a premise that a presidential form is a natural choice. Looking at the list of countries with similar systems, you find a list that starts with Afghanistan and ends with Zimbabwe - practically turbulent and failed states. The most stable and successful countries in the world have parliamentary forms of government. America that imposed on us the presidential model has, since the ascendancy of Trumpism, exposed the weaknesses of its presidential system, its practice of democracy and the mockery of the concept of co-equal branches of government and separation of powers - in a perpetual deadly stalemate.
In a parliamentary system the legislative and executive powers are fused. Members of parliament elect the leader of government among themselves (usually called prime minister) with his Cabinet recruited from among the members of parliament. Thus, the accountability is clear and direct between the makers of the law and executors of the same.
The prime minister is accountable to congress (parliament) and can, if needed, be replaced through a vote of no-confidence - instead of the acrimonious and highly partisan impeachment process. The president still exists as a symbolic head of state, possessing no real political powers.
Studies from all over the world have shown that this form of government provides a higher degree of stability and is less prone to corruption, delivering services much more efficiently to constituents as in Germany, Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries. An important feature is that the prime minister is likewise held accountable to the political parties represented in it. Needless to say, our current party system is a parody of these models.
Presidential system and dynasties
We pointed out the aberrations of the sequences of our selection and election of persons who will eventually occupy the presidency, one inherently undemocratic.
But the most glaring defect of the presidential system is that this is the embryo upon which patronage politics is nurtured. For almost 100 years the system flourished feeding upon the least desired aspect of the Filipino culture - the desire for and dependence on a benefactor from the datu and sultan, heading a clan; to the Spanish patron looking over the indios, to the American "big brother"; morphing into the Philippine president, the "father" of the people.
And where the president is elected at large, he is expected to provide the wherewithal for an expensive election campaign (billions of pesos). This opens an aperture for the oligarchy and the moneyed elite to influence the outcome. We can only speculate at the quid pro quo.
And with the constitutional mandated term limits of elective officials, this deviant model of "public service as a private business" becomes a strong impetus toward the perpetuation of this power base - thus the birth of powerful political dynasties.
Charter revisions are central to fixing our dysfunctional systems. But a critical precondition to all these is the existence of political power delivery system - real political parties - much needed in all reforms in governance.
Next week, July 14, 2021: Political parties
Former chief justice Renato Puno referred to our dysfunctional democracy in one of his speeches: "I like to stress the failure of our electoral system to excise the virus of the politics of patronage that has infected our so-called elections...xxx...This vicious politics of patronage has allowed few oligarchs and bosses to rule us from colonial times to post-colonial times, and their rule has brought us nothing but a facade of democracy, its mirage but not its miracle."
Furthermore, the agenda of the oligarchy, the political dynasties, clans and cabals who get their candidates elected allow their legitimate capture of state institutions. They build on this dominance and perpetuate themselves in power, positions and wealth. It is unfortunate that all these deformities are intertwined and protected by the 1987 Constitution.
It will be recalled that the US-sponsored 1935 Constitution was the overriding political document governing our political life until replaced by the Marcos 1973 Constitution, which was then abrogated by the 1986 Edsa People Power revolution. These authorizations contain the structures underpinning our dysfunctional system of governance buttressed by deleterious provisions evolving into what was to become the Cory Constitution of 1987. (These will be apt topics for dissection in future columns.)
1987 Constitution
Subsequently, the socio-political-economic system fashioned by and for the elite and the oligarchy enshrined in the 1987 Constitution has so constricted an all-encompassing growth unable to keep pace with progress and the changing needs of society. The irony of it all is that laws perpetuating these deficits are legitimately framed by those controlling the levers of political and economic power - the two lawmaking bodies, the Senate and the House - bastions of the oligarchy and political dynasties.
On the economic front, these defects are attributed to the constitutional provisions restricting foreign direct investments (FDI) attracting foreign technology and capital that create jobs. Here, the role of the State is to provide a supportive framework, spurring inclusive growth and not be a direct participant competing with the private sector in an interplay of free market mechanisms. In the homegrown basic sectors, there needs to be a restructuring and modernization of agriculture and fisheries and a rethinking of investments in the mining industry; and the reform of progressive taxation policies that shifts the burden from income to consumption.
Charter change
Political and socioeconomic reforms require revisions of the 1987 Constitution. But every post-Cory administration has failed at critical reforms - from FVR's 1997 Pirma to Erap's 1999 Concord to GMA's 2005 Consultative Commission (ConCom) ending with Duterte's 2018 Constitutional Committee (Concom).
Looking beyond the limits of our discretion, it is hard to find a country that has not amended or revised its constitution in 30 years. In a nutshell, we are unable to tackle the most severe problems within our existing system.
Our leadership fatuously pays lip service to change, pagbabago, but sorely lacks the courage to take it to the finish line - a bankruptcy of political will. No president can permanently alter our realities without overhauling our decaying system. Only when the imperatives of good leadership and governance are put in play can we cure our ailing political system.
President Benigno Aquino 3rd (may he rest in peace) made it very clear that he never wanted to modify "a comma in his mother's constitution"; as if Charter change were a sacrilege.
Parliamentary system
Our presidential system does not provide a sufficient degree of checks and balances for constancy. The executive and the legislative branches are intermittently at odds resulting in gridlocks. Our colonial past inculcated a premise that a presidential form is a natural choice. Looking at the list of countries with similar systems, you find a list that starts with Afghanistan and ends with Zimbabwe - practically turbulent and failed states. The most stable and successful countries in the world have parliamentary forms of government. America that imposed on us the presidential model has, since the ascendancy of Trumpism, exposed the weaknesses of its presidential system, its practice of democracy and the mockery of the concept of co-equal branches of government and separation of powers - in a perpetual deadly stalemate.
In a parliamentary system the legislative and executive powers are fused. Members of parliament elect the leader of government among themselves (usually called prime minister) with his Cabinet recruited from among the members of parliament. Thus, the accountability is clear and direct between the makers of the law and executors of the same.
The prime minister is accountable to congress (parliament) and can, if needed, be replaced through a vote of no-confidence - instead of the acrimonious and highly partisan impeachment process. The president still exists as a symbolic head of state, possessing no real political powers.
Studies from all over the world have shown that this form of government provides a higher degree of stability and is less prone to corruption, delivering services much more efficiently to constituents as in Germany, Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries. An important feature is that the prime minister is likewise held accountable to the political parties represented in it. Needless to say, our current party system is a parody of these models.
Presidential system and dynasties
We pointed out the aberrations of the sequences of our selection and election of persons who will eventually occupy the presidency, one inherently undemocratic.
But the most glaring defect of the presidential system is that this is the embryo upon which patronage politics is nurtured. For almost 100 years the system flourished feeding upon the least desired aspect of the Filipino culture - the desire for and dependence on a benefactor from the datu and sultan, heading a clan; to the Spanish patron looking over the indios, to the American "big brother"; morphing into the Philippine president, the "father" of the people.
And where the president is elected at large, he is expected to provide the wherewithal for an expensive election campaign (billions of pesos). This opens an aperture for the oligarchy and the moneyed elite to influence the outcome. We can only speculate at the quid pro quo.
And with the constitutional mandated term limits of elective officials, this deviant model of "public service as a private business" becomes a strong impetus toward the perpetuation of this power base - thus the birth of powerful political dynasties.
Charter revisions are central to fixing our dysfunctional systems. But a critical precondition to all these is the existence of political power delivery system - real political parties - much needed in all reforms in governance.
Next week, July 14, 2021: Political parties
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 05:50
The state of our politics
First of 3 parts
THE traditional and social media are now rife with speculation on who should run the country after President Duterte - not excluding the conjectures about the man himself running for vice president as foolishly proposed by the Cusi faction of the broken PDP-Laban. Even the President himself, I'm sure, is somewhat embarrassed by such a display of sycophancy. The President has dismissed this recipe outright from one senator suggesting he would run for president only if the Deegong runs as his VP. But clownish and inane declarations are par for the course for this sexennial event when all sorts of creatures come out of the woodwork to declare themselves fit to vie for the highest office of the land.
Presidential wannabes
Which brings us to several interrelated topics, among which are the state of politics in this country, particularly the patronage system impacting on our political parties birthing a mix of individuals, genuine and spurious, who have somehow decided that they are fit to follow after Duterte. Much worse are some deluding themselves worthy and destined to be gifted the ultimate prize by the electorate.
Subsequently, five names were released by Malacañang as possible candidates for the May 2022 presidential elections. Prominent among them are presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., PDP-Laban president Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso and Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go. It was hinted that Duterte may pick his choice from among these at an appropriate time.
An alternative list was an expanded one proposed by partisans to include those who may be under Duterte's radar to widen the choices from the heavily Mindanao-personalities-leaning one. Thus, were added Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon; the AdeM niño bonito, Sen. Panfilo Ping Lacson, Lakas-NUCD stalwart Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro and Sen. Mary Grace Poe, who all lost their presidential bids, respectively, in the 2004, 2010 and 2016 presidential elections.
And the opposition has advanced the expected names of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo, former vice president Manuel "Mar" Roxas and former senator Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes 4th. Unfortunately, with their tattered reputation and the way everything is stacked up against them, they may have the same chances as perennial candidate Pascual Racuyal, who has run in every presidential election beginning in 1935 against Manuel Quezon. Chances are the opposition candidate may eventually come from those that the Deegong will discard from among the list of top names, analogous to a "loyal opposition."
No doubt their partisans and even perhaps a substantial number of our electorate consider these names as persons who can make a difference when elected. I take the opposing view. My stand from years back congruent to the tenets as a Centrist Democrat (CD) that names, though important, should be subservient to the systemic configuration for good governance and their perceived moral standing. Simply put, the well-considered political platforms and the seriousness of the type of political systemic reforms advanced by principled candidates are elemental and have precedence. Not the popularity, the electability and the name recall that have been unfortunately the sine qua non of our elections.
What's wrong with PH politics?
As I intimated years ago reprinting excerpts here, everything's wrong with Philippine politics - period!
This tongue-in-cheek reply to the above query encapsulates the frustrations of many a writer on where to begin to dissect the multitude of problems reducing them into palatable morsels. The easier way to go about this is perhaps to focus on the whole universe of the electoral process which has obstinately captured the interest and occupied the minds of our people - next year's presidential election and its implications.
What comes to mind, as one voter from among the millions who will troop to the polls on May 9, 2022, is a simpler question. Who selected this dozen or so politicians in the first place to compete for my vote for the highest elective office in the land? Who made the decision that only these good people should be considered by the millions of Filipinos as worthy of their votes?
No wide consultation
Were people consulted on the process of selection? Was there a vetting process similar to one in politically mature countries - like the preliminaries and caucuses in America (or in China by the diktat of the Chinese Communist Party central politburo)? These are selection processes sanctioned by their political parties, where only the best (or most popular or intimidating) of the lot are selected and will be presented to the public as candidates worthy of contending for the highest honor the citizens can gift them with? In our case in the Philippines, I don't remember being asked about the criteria I want for these people to possess prior to their being paraded for the scrutiny of millions.
We boast to the world that ours is the first and oldest democracy in Asia. And by definition, the demos, we the people, perhaps through our political parties should first set the criteria for the aspirants to possess before they are allowed to enter the political arena and engage in partisan combat winning our hearts and minds - through the force of their character, the courage of their convictions, moral standing and familiarity with the longings and aspirations of their constituencies, and the articulateness of their submissions to the body politic.
Unfortunately, we don't have this kind of democratic vetting. Let me attempt to elucidate how these 10 or so persons could have emerged as candidates worthy of our consideration.
Self-serving process
The first is self-selection. One may have figured out what the job minimally entails, so, a mere declaration will suffice: "I want to be President of the Republic of the Philippines." Or perhaps a moneyed neophyte from other professions, principally the entertainment or sports sectors, seeing the opportunity to leverage popularity, a reputation as coming from the "masa" to run as independent, fashioning a temporary political vehicle, calling it a political party or movement.
The second is the notion that the presidency was agreed upon previously by the "barkada" - a clique. It is a legacy, an entitlement or even a family heirloom because one's relative has been there before me. This time around: "It is my turn to run for President of the Republic of the Philippines."
The third is a political patron, principally an oligarch selecting one from within or outside of a political party: I have the money; the organization and I anoint you as my candidate for the presidency of the Philippines.
There are permutations in the selection of who will run for any elective position, from the presidency down to the town mayor to the various sanggunian. But the underlying narrative is that any of these selection processes are the definition and the tools of traditional political patronage.
And this is basically what is wrong with Philippine politics. Traditional patronage politics has been the practice in the country for decades. This has been ingrained in our political culture permeating the very sinews of a good part of our political life. Our political system itself is a perversion and this travesty has been embedded in our Constitution.
This brings us to address the second part of the question above: How might it be fixed?
Next week, July 7, 2021:
Fixing a dysfunctional system
THE traditional and social media are now rife with speculation on who should run the country after President Duterte - not excluding the conjectures about the man himself running for vice president as foolishly proposed by the Cusi faction of the broken PDP-Laban. Even the President himself, I'm sure, is somewhat embarrassed by such a display of sycophancy. The President has dismissed this recipe outright from one senator suggesting he would run for president only if the Deegong runs as his VP. But clownish and inane declarations are par for the course for this sexennial event when all sorts of creatures come out of the woodwork to declare themselves fit to vie for the highest office of the land.
Presidential wannabes
Which brings us to several interrelated topics, among which are the state of politics in this country, particularly the patronage system impacting on our political parties birthing a mix of individuals, genuine and spurious, who have somehow decided that they are fit to follow after Duterte. Much worse are some deluding themselves worthy and destined to be gifted the ultimate prize by the electorate.
Subsequently, five names were released by Malacañang as possible candidates for the May 2022 presidential elections. Prominent among them are presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., PDP-Laban president Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso and Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go. It was hinted that Duterte may pick his choice from among these at an appropriate time.
An alternative list was an expanded one proposed by partisans to include those who may be under Duterte's radar to widen the choices from the heavily Mindanao-personalities-leaning one. Thus, were added Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon; the AdeM niño bonito, Sen. Panfilo Ping Lacson, Lakas-NUCD stalwart Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro and Sen. Mary Grace Poe, who all lost their presidential bids, respectively, in the 2004, 2010 and 2016 presidential elections.
And the opposition has advanced the expected names of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo, former vice president Manuel "Mar" Roxas and former senator Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes 4th. Unfortunately, with their tattered reputation and the way everything is stacked up against them, they may have the same chances as perennial candidate Pascual Racuyal, who has run in every presidential election beginning in 1935 against Manuel Quezon. Chances are the opposition candidate may eventually come from those that the Deegong will discard from among the list of top names, analogous to a "loyal opposition."
No doubt their partisans and even perhaps a substantial number of our electorate consider these names as persons who can make a difference when elected. I take the opposing view. My stand from years back congruent to the tenets as a Centrist Democrat (CD) that names, though important, should be subservient to the systemic configuration for good governance and their perceived moral standing. Simply put, the well-considered political platforms and the seriousness of the type of political systemic reforms advanced by principled candidates are elemental and have precedence. Not the popularity, the electability and the name recall that have been unfortunately the sine qua non of our elections.
What's wrong with PH politics?
As I intimated years ago reprinting excerpts here, everything's wrong with Philippine politics - period!
This tongue-in-cheek reply to the above query encapsulates the frustrations of many a writer on where to begin to dissect the multitude of problems reducing them into palatable morsels. The easier way to go about this is perhaps to focus on the whole universe of the electoral process which has obstinately captured the interest and occupied the minds of our people - next year's presidential election and its implications.
What comes to mind, as one voter from among the millions who will troop to the polls on May 9, 2022, is a simpler question. Who selected this dozen or so politicians in the first place to compete for my vote for the highest elective office in the land? Who made the decision that only these good people should be considered by the millions of Filipinos as worthy of their votes?
No wide consultation
Were people consulted on the process of selection? Was there a vetting process similar to one in politically mature countries - like the preliminaries and caucuses in America (or in China by the diktat of the Chinese Communist Party central politburo)? These are selection processes sanctioned by their political parties, where only the best (or most popular or intimidating) of the lot are selected and will be presented to the public as candidates worthy of contending for the highest honor the citizens can gift them with? In our case in the Philippines, I don't remember being asked about the criteria I want for these people to possess prior to their being paraded for the scrutiny of millions.
We boast to the world that ours is the first and oldest democracy in Asia. And by definition, the demos, we the people, perhaps through our political parties should first set the criteria for the aspirants to possess before they are allowed to enter the political arena and engage in partisan combat winning our hearts and minds - through the force of their character, the courage of their convictions, moral standing and familiarity with the longings and aspirations of their constituencies, and the articulateness of their submissions to the body politic.
Unfortunately, we don't have this kind of democratic vetting. Let me attempt to elucidate how these 10 or so persons could have emerged as candidates worthy of our consideration.
Self-serving process
The first is self-selection. One may have figured out what the job minimally entails, so, a mere declaration will suffice: "I want to be President of the Republic of the Philippines." Or perhaps a moneyed neophyte from other professions, principally the entertainment or sports sectors, seeing the opportunity to leverage popularity, a reputation as coming from the "masa" to run as independent, fashioning a temporary political vehicle, calling it a political party or movement.
The second is the notion that the presidency was agreed upon previously by the "barkada" - a clique. It is a legacy, an entitlement or even a family heirloom because one's relative has been there before me. This time around: "It is my turn to run for President of the Republic of the Philippines."
The third is a political patron, principally an oligarch selecting one from within or outside of a political party: I have the money; the organization and I anoint you as my candidate for the presidency of the Philippines.
There are permutations in the selection of who will run for any elective position, from the presidency down to the town mayor to the various sanggunian. But the underlying narrative is that any of these selection processes are the definition and the tools of traditional political patronage.
And this is basically what is wrong with Philippine politics. Traditional patronage politics has been the practice in the country for decades. This has been ingrained in our political culture permeating the very sinews of a good part of our political life. Our political system itself is a perversion and this travesty has been embedded in our Constitution.
This brings us to address the second part of the question above: How might it be fixed?
Next week, July 7, 2021:
Fixing a dysfunctional system
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 23 June 2021 16:27
Marawi, we weep for thee
ON May 21, 2017, I had the privilege of hosting a family dinner for Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at my residence in Davao. It was the eve of President Duterte's departure for Russia. Unbeknownst to the upper echelon of government, Marawi was to erupt in bloody violence between the forces of the Abu Sayyaf led by Isnilon Hapilon, the Islamic State-affiliated Maute-Islamist, and government forces. This would last for five months.
Researching on this incident, referred to as the "Marawi siege," four published source books are cited: 1) The Challenges of Reporting Violent Extremism: Lessons from Mindanao, Mindanao Institute of Journalism, Carolyn O. Arguilas ed. (2021); 2) The Battle of Marawi, Criselda Yabes (2020); 3) Marawi Siege: Stories from the Frontlines, Carmela S. Fonbuena (2020); and 4) No Man Left Behind, Phil Fortuno, PhD.
This column is written on the fourth anniversary of the siege, but to add flavor to these books, I sought another angle with the contribution of two individuals who had a stake in Marawi at different times of their lives: one describing Marawi long before the incident, and the other four years after. "Dinky" Munda, a Christian and a classmate at the AdeD in the 1960s and Samira Gutoc, a Maranao Marawi resident and former student leader in the 1990s whom I met during my NGO days and is now immersed in civil society.
Jose Paulino 'Dinky' Amado Santos Munda Jr.'s narrative
"Marawi, formerly known as 'Dansalan' has a special place in our family's history. In 1920, my grandfather, Gen. Paulino T. Santos, then a captain, was ordered back to the province of Lanao to become the first Filipino provincial commander and concurrent provincial governor, relieving Major M. L. Stephens.
"[The year] 1917 marked a defining moment in the young Paulino's career as an officer in an event which propelled him into the pantheon of Philippine heroes. This incident happened in the Lake Lanao-Bayang area.
"The tall slim, brown-skinned constabulary officer, a newly promoted lieutenant, stared unflinchingly at the heavily fortified Moro cotta, then confidently spoke to his American commanding officer: 'Colonel Waloe, Sir, this is a Filipino fight so let me have the honor of leading the attack.'
"When his leader consented, he took a bamboo ladder, leaned it against the ramparts, climbed it and led his American and Filipino men. He personally killed many Moro rebels and his troops finally overpowered and conquered the Moro stronghold. This despite his receiving a near-fatal wound in the neck.
"...Paulino Santos - private in 1909, lieutenant in 1914, and major-general commanding the Philippine Army in 1936. For his act of bravery on this bloody day in 1917, on this fort called Bayang Cotta by the placid waters of Lake Lanao, Lt. Santos would later be awarded his country's highest honor for bravery - the Medal for Valor.
"To date, there have been only three AFP chiefs of staff who have been awarded the Medal of Valor -- my lolo, Gen. Castañeda and Gen. Sobejana, the current chief of staff.
The siege
"On May 23, 2017, eight AFP troopers attempted to capture the Emir Isnilon Hapilon in an apartment in Marawi City. It turned out that the AFP's intelligence report was faulty which led to an unsuccessful operation - a 'botched' job.
"To get a better understanding of the Battle of Marawi and its aftermath, I sought answers to the following questions:
"First, there was no military strategy. AFP just stumbled into this battle – almost accidentally. The eight AFP troopers were shot at by Islamists killing two, wounding four and trapping the group. Thus began a series of unsuccessful 'rescue' attempts – escalating into a full-fledged battle.
"Second, the prolonged urban siege had taken the lives of 168 soldiers and 974 terrorists, 13 of them foreigners...87 civilians who died, 40 due to illness, and hundreds of thousands of residents were displaced...
"Perhaps, we'll never know how many of the 974 were really terrorists. Some were hostages forced by the Islamists to shoot at the AFP forces, or else...
"On the third and fourth questions (about the five-month battle costs and rehabilitation), there are no answers found in the four books...cost estimates...run into hundreds of billions. Was this a 'Pyrrhic victory'?
"On the fifth question (when will reconstruction be finished?) ...[at] the 4th anniversary of the battle...the reconstruction is far from complete. Did our AFP have to destroy the whole city of Marawi?"
Aftermath
Government reports an estimated 11,400 displaced families are currently housed at their relatives' and friends' homes mostly outside of Marawi while thousands more wait in temporary shelters. The Marawi Rehabilitation Task Force (MRTF) averred the displaced population could begin returning home at the end of July 2019 (two years ago). Furthermore, "the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary and Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) head Eduardo del Rosario said in a report that the master development plan for the rehabilitation was already 60 percent completed."
This is disputed by Maranao leaders and other civil society organizations from Mindanao under the Marawi Advocacy Accompaniment (MAA) who asked President Duterte to speed up reconstruction of war-torn Marawi city - four years after the siege. The Deegong's promise that Marawi will rise as a prosperous city again continues to remain hollow.
It may be recalled that in government official reports during the siege, the terrorists went on a killing spree carrying out extrajudicial executions on Christian civilian populations "...because they were not Muslim. Militants often gave civilians a de facto religious test prior to killing them; they were asked to recite the Shahada, which is an expression of Muslim faith, or to respond to Muslim greetings. Civilians who did not recite the Shahada or failed to respond appropriately were often summarily executed." Amnesty International after interviewing several witnesses reported accounts of just 25 such executions.
A collateral problem is the unidentified bodies recovered and buried in the Maqbara public cemetery. The police crime laboratory has processed 470 bodies but only four were matched and identified through DNA testing. The rest are unknown victims, terrorists, hostages or simply bystanders.
Samira Gutoc's view
Today Marawi is a desolate place. Initiatives to rebuild homes both by the private sector and government are bereft with problems. This is further complicated by the pandemic, which hit the "bakwits" (the displaced ones) the hardest. As Samira Gutoc wrote, "At the end of each day, as I take a few moments to reflect, one of the questions that comes to mind most often is this: How can we protect an entire country from Covid-19 when we cannot even protect and return home mere thousands of Marawi evacuees, who have been displaced since 2017 and are now subjected to the world's longest lockdown?
"For us, the delays coupled with the neglect of the voices of communities in the city's 'ground zero' contribute further not only to the trauma still being endured by the 'bakwits' of the siege but also to the century-old narrative of marginalization, discrimination and exclusion and social deprivation in Mindanao."
On the fourth anniversary of the siege, Marawi is a powder keg. It can erupt anytime and when it does, Allah/God help us!
Published in
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This is really interesting, You're a very skilled blogger. I've…
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on Thursday, 24 March 2016 12:35
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