2013 political losers

Several 2013 major events had  consequences which were the primary determinants of the political losers for the year: the midterm senatorial elections; the  pork barrel exposes;  Typhoon Yolanda; and, public personality conflicts, in a personality-dominated Philippine political environment.

There is  no doubt that the biggest political loser for the year was Juan Ponce Enrile, once considered as the indestructible denizen now turned bête noir of Philippine politics. In 2012, he was considered a political Lazarus after his handling of the impeachment of  Corona. That same year, he launched a masterful revised version of the Marcos martial dictatorial regime written by Nelson Navarro. At the end of the year, it was loudly whispered that he would be the power broker for the next elections.

But the Filipino people obviously had their own independent judgments uninfluenced by media and public relations wizardry. The defeat of his son and heir apparent in the Senatorial elections was the first revelation that the electorate did not believe in a “new” Enrile.

Then came the whistleblowers and the Napoles pork barrel scams. At first Enrile was only one of the HERMES gang – Honasan, Enrile, Revilla, Marcos, Estrada, Sotto – implicated in the plunder and graft cases. Then news broke was that he was one of the three senators, along with Estrada and Revilla, who was going to be charged with plunder. This is a non-bailable offense and the betting now is whether or not he will end up in jail by March of this year.

Adding spice to the ongoing Enrile drama was the decision of his very attractive and intelligent co-accused and chief of staff of many years, Gigi Reyes, to suddenly leave the country for some unknown destination. But the coup de ’grace, was the public speech of fellow senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, accusing Enrile of being the mastermind of the pork barrel scandals;  godfather of the smuggling in Port Irene, Cagayan; and, carrying “long arms” to intimidate people.

These accusations gave no choice for Secretary Leila de Lima but to announce that there would be an investigation of all the alleged criminal activities of Enrile.

The next biggest losers had to be the two senators allegedly involved in the plunder cases.  Jinggoy Estrada’s attempt to whitewash his name by accusing COA Chair Grace Pulido Tan of misusing public funds for her travels was a classic case of argumentum ad hominem. This is a rule of logic which states that an argument is rejected on the basis of irrelevant facts about the one presenting the argument. This means that the travels of Grace Pulido Tan has nothing to do with the evidence being presented that alleges Jinggoy Estrada is guilty of plunder or stealing millions of government funds.

As for Revilla, when I heard he was going to present his own handpicked handwriting expert to prove his signatures were forged, I thought the Senator was the victim of a joke.

Aside from the politicians accused in the PDAF Napoles scams, there were other political losers. There was UNA Spokesman Toby Tiangco who I believe was given an impossible task. It was his claim that he would speak for the “loyal” opposition. This is a British political term.

In the United Kingdom, the head of state is the King or Queen, and the head of government is the prime minister of the majority party. In the Philippines, the President is both the head of state and the head of government.

If we are to use the British parallel, Spokesman Toby would be “loyal” to PNoy, the head of state, but also “opposition” to PNoy the head of government. This schizophrenic job certainly gave him an unenviable task. Every time I heard him speak in media, I could never figure out where his loyalty ended and his opposition begun; or vice versa.

Members of the opposition have, of course, explained they would support PNoy if it was “good” for the country, and oppose him if it was “bad” for the country. This statement has the same level of credibility as those politicians who claim they are running because it is the “will of the people.”

Regretfully, among the political losers of 2013 were the original organizers of the Million People March. It was an event that started with noble intentions  â€“ to gather together to show opposition to corruption.

First, the name was an obvious take off on that American rally, the Million Man March on Washington D.C., which was really a struggle for racial equality.

Second, the crowd barely surpassed 100,000 on the first day and  rapidly dwindled during the succeeding events, until the organizers ended up staging “events” even just for a few hundred attendees. The constant egging on by media personalities and social media blasts failed to bring out the crowds.

 I remind people that social media may be good for communication but there are other more important ingredients needed to fuel massive social protests. During the EDSA I People Power Revolution, millions all over the country took to the streets. There was no social media – in fact there was no media support at all.

The Million People March lacked mass support, solid organizing at the “ground” level, and charismatic leadership. Unfortunately it also developed a perception of a political agenda which lacked public support. For example, some of the rallies were dominated by red flags and people asking PNoy to resign.

The Judiciary came under fire because of their “Arlene” scandals similar to Napoles, and calls by Congress to investigate the Judiciary’s Development Fund, alleged to be their version of the pork barrel. The biggest political loser here is Midas Marquez, the outspoken defender of Corona, who has strangely remained silent although as Court Administrator he is responsible for judicial discipline.

This is an incomplete list. But all political losers need to understand that in attempting to fool the Filipino people, all they end up doing is making fools of  themselves.

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