Sen. Pimentel's clarion call

There was a clarion call aired by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel few days ago that put forward an idealistic proposition. It brought a suppressed smile on my face. He asked that all aspiring presidents who pretend to belong to the opposition cleanse themselves of any ties with the administration. I had to suppress my smile because I felt that like any other ideal, the suggestion of the Mindanao lawmaker would be extremely difficult to approximate, much less achieve. Yes, I smiled because while it would be very difficult to accomplish, it, more importantly, provided an avenue for the concerned individuals to find it their patriotic duty to heed.

Let us try to fathom what may be recurring in the mind of Sen. Pimentel. First, he must have worked on a perception borne out by constant results of social surveys. Public pulse, as indicated by a seemingly irreversible trend, may have formulated a premise that this government of Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is so corrupt and rotten that it equates to a kiss of death for any presidential candidate to get her endorsement.

After all, every now and then, we continue to hear the stories associated with the odious “Hello, Garci” scandal for, if true, it was the acme of how corrupt officials manipulate election results if only to remain in power. And the president’s “I’m sorry, x x x for lapse of judgment” or words to that effect somehow validated ugly rumors of her complicity with the electoral rape.

Then too, the fertilizer scam has not totally vanished from the public mind. To ordinary mortals like me, the act of a certain Jocjoc Bolante, in allegedly siphoning hundreds of millions of peoples money to a veritable campaign kitty would not have been so brazen had high officials not given imprimatur.

So, clever politicians do not wish to be associated with a perceived graft ridden and corrupt administration.

Second, the Mindanao solon must have seen that those aiming for Malacañang forage the palace’s inexhaustible funds to oil their current political foray. As we all know, many local government leaders, come and go to the office of the president for financial assistance in probable exchange for political commitment. They are sources of votes and so, these presidential hopefuls, if only to continue rubbing their elbows with them, keep within the periphery of the president.

Third, Sen. Pimentel, must have sensed that the voters are still confused on the stance of most of the probable candidates for president. While many such aspirants were apparently elected from the ranks of the opposition, they have some dalliance with the administration that taint their political philosophies.

Thus, the idealistic call of the Mindanao legislator.

As I understand it, the political terrain, thanks to the misplaced concept called multi-party system, is in a state of disarray. There are as many political parties as there are people trying to vie for certain positions. Too confusingly many. The philosophies on which they stand tend to over lap such that it is almost impossible to discern which party stands for which objective.

The number of political parties jockeying for elective positions does not measure the dynamism of a republic. That is not the case. It is in the contest of their political platform giving way to the exercise by the citizenry of their suffrage that determines the direction of our government, identifies responsible parties, and spares those uninvolved. Two opposing parties espousing the best principles and programs of government will yield in a dramatic political exercise.

Indeed, the best way to chart the course of our republic is to limit the choice of presidential timbers. This is the essence of the call of Sen. Pimentel. Let the administration of Pres. Arroyo come up, from among the best minds within her sphere of influence, with one candidate for presidency and let the several aspirants from opposition discard personal ambitions to unite under the leadership of one timber. When we have two such outstanding candidates, the winner will surely be the voice of the people. 

* * *

Email: [email protected]