This week, the mainstream and social media were all busy covering the introduction of candidates for next year’s election. Even before that though, millions of linear meters of tarpaulins were already hanged in electric posts and tacked in walls and balconies. Actually, the explosion of tarpaulins all over the country was way ahead with that of Mayon Volcano’s eruption on June 11, 2023.
Apparently, most candidates are familiar or have familiar family names. The same family names that had been spending millions or billions every election year for their visibility initiatives. The same surnames that have been throwing wads of bills for their vote-buying efforts.
Therefore, expect that right after they (voters) cast their votes, they will troop to the supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, bars and coffee shops and spend those money like there is no tomorrow. And even if these money come from illegitimate or unethical sources, the economy will still expand.
Yes, as records reveal, it is true that election-related activities propel the economy. It is so tempting that we might even entertain the idea of having an election every year. However, the truth is, in the kind of election that we have, the downside is horrible.
Remember, our kind of politics is totally dirty from the beginning to end. This is a kind of politics where every coveted position has a price tag. Therefore, anyone who can afford gets it. Obviously, it is a kind of politics where the politicians’ willingness to dangle millions or billions is the main determinant. Consequently, as they part with it, they shall be equally determined to get it back, of course, with profits.
But how are returns assured? There are countless of ways. For devious candidates though, not from their salaries or honoraria. More often, they milk or exploit on projects or any forms of procurements. Unfortunately, such and other countless of ways are the primary reasons of our being undisputedly at the bottom of every corruption survey.
Sadly, once the election is over, except for the level of greed that will certainly shoot up, the usual scenery shall dominate - the same old political clans (the trapos) and entertainers who are either running for reelection or are returning to the political arena after a painful loss. Obviously, they’ve made elections their own and their positions their businesses or livelihoods to bank on.
Such usual scenes are very ironic for a positive exercise as election. As we all understand, election is a formal decision-making process by which we, as a nation, shall choose individuals to hold public office. Supposedly, therefore, we must rejoice for the state-bestowed free hand to choose. However, it doesn’t obtain as money’s influence is so irresistible.
Truth to tell, the primordial concern is in our kind of electoral process. That is, from filing of candidacies where nationalities and addresses are even faked, to counts of ballots that could be possibly rigged. Then, within this span, there are real concerns about the kinds of campaign that ranges from “swiftboating” to vote buying.
Indeed, as campaigns will entail huge expenditures, the need for heaps of it is clear as daylight. So that, candidates and their fundraisers devote substantial time and effort burning potential benefactors’ phone lines. As phones ring, possibilities are endless. Everyone is very much aware that as money flows out from a contributor’s pocket, agreements are sealed. Such deals could come in illegitimate favors from government for juicy projects. On the other hand, it could be selfishly a deal for some lucrative positions.
Bluntly, such political donation is, in essence, bribe money. With these dirty moneys in circulation, these candidates and contributors will certainly retrieve them and selfishly put them back in their own treasury. As contributors take their money back through juicy projects, the elected officials shall have their own heydays amassing lots of it not just to recover amounts spent but also to fill their purses to the hilt to finance the cost of their future generations’ stay in power.
All these money recovery measures are consequences of the kind of electoral campaigns the candidates are waging. The penalty, however, of these devious schemes is huge. As politicians (from dynasties) and contributors (cohorts) dry up our treasury through illegitimate deals, our economy shall thirst to death.