Like the walking dead
One of the most engaging and compelling political campaign slogans in the presidential election of 2010, and which probably played a large and crucial part in catapulting Noynoy Aquino to the presidency, was his "Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap" one-liner. To a country struggling to extricate itself from crippling poverty, the slogan proved mesmerizing enough for some to take Noynoy up on his word and give him just enough votes to become a minority president.
But the latest surveys show more and more Filipinos are rating themselves poor. This is a crucial factor because the determination was not derived from any other qualifiers but by the self-appreciation of the respondents themselves. It was the people who said they were poor and nothing can be more credible and trustworthy than that.
The latest survey results are a very serious indictment of Noynoy's presidency and couldn't have come at a more provident time to show what a failure it is. I say provident because it should nip in the bud any illusions Noynoy has of seeking another term, an idea he has been toying with of late. The increasing self-rated poverty of Filipinos indicts Noynoy on two very important fronts -- corruption and economic performance.
Despite the lack of any evidence to bolster its claims, the Noynoy administration has been boasting far and wide about how successful its anti-corruption drive had been and how triumphant its economic gains are and continue to be. Well, there is no better and more substantial argument and evidence to the contrary than to have more than half of all Filipinos rating themselves as poor.
Going by Noynoy's own standards, his anti-corruption is a dud. "Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap." But with more than half the population rating themselves as mahirap, it only goes to show that corruption is even far worse now than at the time he came up with the slogan. Corruption must be thriving to have so many mahirap coming out to admit it.
And what economic gains is Noynoy boasting about when more than half his people are claiming to be impoverished. If there are any economic gains at all, they are probably going to the rich like himself. Such gains are, as they say, not inclusive and therefore are not the result of sound economic policies attributable to his leadership. Such economic gains are market and capital driven, the power of enterprise over political leadership.
Any claim of success, therefore, by Noynoy on these two fronts are hollow and incredible. They do not reflect the real worth of his leadership. Even Noynoy probably knows this but is too chicken to admit it. And that is why he simply cannot stop himself from continuing with his blame game. With nothing to really brag about truthfully and honorably, Noynoy can only resort to blaming the past administration and his political enemies.
True, a chief justice has been removed from office and three senators have been detained and suspended. But Noynoy cannot claim these as legitimate achievements in his supposed fight against corruption if he refuses to admit and qualify that all of these people are his political enemies and that no one, absolutely no one from among his friends, allies and supporters have been similarly investigated, much less charged, suspended and removed.
The anti-corruption campaign of Noynoy is a big fat lie and was just a neatly packaged political campaign ruse meant to pull the collective leg of Filipinos who desperately needed someone and something to believe in. Noynoy has betrayed his people and his mandate. He has no business making overtures for a second term. In fact he ought to either resign or be removed.
The Filipino people deserve something so much better from their president than be lied to or worse, being made fools of. The presidency of Noynoy, in that it was built on a web of deception right from the start, is the single worst presidency the Philippines has ever seen. It is far worse than the dictatorship of Marcos. At least Marcos had far less pretenses than Noynoy.
Marcos may have been a brutal dictator. But Noynoy killed something far worse in the Filipino people -- their ability to believe and to hope. When people lose the ability to believe and to hope, they become no better than the walking dead. They become zombies. That is the legacy that Noynoy and his presidency are bequeathing the Filipino nation.
When people start admitting they are poor, it is not only an indictment against the political leadership. It is already a cry for help. It is already a desperate plea for recognition, to be acknowledged for the plight they are in. People are born with a natural dignity that is a gift from God. When people start crying out from poverty and hunger, that means their dignity has snapped.
That means that even that which God has given, Noynoy has stolen. I say stolen because the loss is not inadvertent but deliberate. Noynoy has not recognized the loss. He continues to insist on what is not there. He is like the emperor with no clothes who wants his people to believe he is not naked. The emptiness and bankruptcy of his presidency leaves nothing for anyone to cling to for whatever clinging might be worth.
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