Weakness

In a democracy, an election is supposed to be the best manifestation of people power. In our democracy, elections expose the weaknesses of our republic.

We can argue that having the elections push through at all – and with the usual high voter turnout – is proof of the strength of our democracy, dysfunctional as it is. After all, how many months did we have to endure rumors of a coup, of "no-el" conspiracies to scrap the elections? Yet the elections pushed through as sche-duled, without a coup, without even a comic mutiny in Makati, and without any "Madrid-level" terrorist attack. Why, we didn’t even have a sensational jailbreak on election day – proof that our lawmen aren’t always sleeping on the job in the panciteria or busy with tong-its.

But what an exercise in democracy it turned out to be. As usual, the campaign revolved on personalities, not issues. Candidates completely ignored rules on campaign spending and even the display of campaign materials. Votes were bought long before election day.

We have become so used to election violence that we found nothing unusual about reports of over a hundred poll-related murders and even grenade attacks. Some foreigners expressed shock over the violence. The military’s reaction? Lighten up, you’ll get used to it.

On election day, officials of the Commission on Elections allowed all hell to break loose, resulting in the disenfranchisement of 900,000 voters, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) exit poll.

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Previous elections have seen the Pinoy voter sending convicted rapists and suspected criminals to high office. This time there is no winning rapist, but there’s a former priest who has just been elected town mayor despite pleading guilty to sexual harassment and being disqualified as a candidate; he has appealed his disqualification.

And now the coup rumors have been replaced by threats of revolution and endless carping about poll fraud. Unsurprisingly, all the threats are coming from losing candidates and their supporters.

We welcome any proof of massive, systematic fraud so that the culprits can be punished and we can implement measures to prevent cheating. But so far we haven’t seen any such evidence.

Until such proof is presented, I don’t know what it will take to stop the bratty bellyaching of sore losers. Perhaps we can ask for a message from the Pope (and Prozac from Eli Lilly). Perhaps leaders of the Catholic Church, Iglesia ni Cristo and El Shaddai can step in to restore sanity during the long wait for the results of the official vote canvassing, now moving at glacial pace.

I’m surprised that Mahar Mangahas of SWS hasn’t gone on vacation yet amid all the vilification heaped on his organization. People who haven’t the faintest idea of the requirements of responsible polling are commissioning fly-by-night pollsters, which are only too happy to take candidates’ money in exchange for the results they want.

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You wonder why anyone would spend billions to lead this ungovernable country. But that’s another factor contributing to the weakness of our republic: people seek public office for all the wrong reasons – not to serve, to do good for the greatest number or earn a place in history, but to enrich themselves as well as their relatives and friends. This is why they don’t care about the dismal pay in government, the long work hours and the need to keep a smile stapled to their faces when they appear in public.

For that matter, candidates can make a fortune even if they don’t win, thanks to lawmakers who have opposed any attempt to bring transparency to campaign spending or implement campaign finance reforms.

Sometimes, as in the case of at least one presidential aspirant in this election, it’s the handlers who make a fortune. The talk is that the candidate’s handlers pocketed what was left of the campaign kitty in the final days of the campaign – the most crucial period. The poor candidate was left wondering where all the funds went and why the campaign collapsed at crunch time.

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Actor Fernando Poe Jr. should be commended for advising his supporters not to take to the streets at this time, when his camp is still busy collating evidence of cheating.

As in the campaign, however, Poe does not seem to be firmly in control of his supporters.

His appeal for calm was in contrast to the call of deposed President Joseph Estrada for street protests. Are they still bosom buddies? Their long friendship appears to have been strained by this campaign.

Incidentally, one of the retired military officers said to be agitating soldiers, former Armed Forces chief Joselin Nazareno, is identified with Erap. Three other names being mentioned are identified with the late President Ferdinand Marcos, or more precisely, with his loyal military chief Fabian Ver: former Army commander Jaime de los Santos, Jaime Echeverria and Tomas Diaz. These four men are among the retired officers who have placed their bets on Poe.

Eighteen years after the first people power uprising, our soldiers still haven’t returned to the barracks. Marcos started their politicization, basing promotions on loyalty rather than merit. EDSA I gave the military a taste of po-wer, which was repeated in EDSA II. Military and police officers also learned early on that at some point in their career they had to align themselves with politicians if they wanted speedy promotion or juicy assignments. Some officers also turn to the Iglesia ni Cristo for support when lobbying for a position.

Such political alignments continue even upon the officers’ retirement, when they hope to be tapped for positions in government. Thus in the presidential race, President Arroyo, Poe and former national police chief Panfilo Lacson have their own groups of military and police officers supporting their bids – and not all the officers are retirees.

I’ve heard complaints from junior officers who want to stay out of politics or remain neutral during elections, but who are compelled by their superiors to side with particular candidates.

Since presidents themselves cultivate their own loyal officers in the uniformed services, this sorry state of affairs will bedevil the military and police for a long time, weakening our republic. Will elections lead to reforms? Don’t count on it.