The Long View: A peculiar chicken
September 24, 2009 by mlq3
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The Long View
A peculiar chicken
By Manuel L. Quezon III
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:23:00 09/24/2009
Anding Roces’ famous short story involves his brother’s peculiar chicken, which exhibited every outward sign of being a rooster—until it laid an egg one day. This brings up the question of the President’s peculiar chicken, which her ruling party has been holding up as an example of remarkable political plumage, in the hope that this will dazzle the electorate enough to prevent Gilbert Teodoro Jr. from laying an electoral egg in 2010.
The problem is that the President’s own secretary of foreign affairs announced his intention to back a different bird altogether, so to speak.
Alberto Romulo has told reporters he’s always been for the Aquinos, conveniently forgetting that he has been standing by the President all these years. Which brings up the inconvenient question of why he backed the President when it mattered but won’t back her anointed successor when he has far less to bring to the campaign. Or is that the reason he is suddenly born again as a true believer in the Aquinos?
His son, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, tried to downplay his father’s announcement by saying he’s going to stand by the President’s Anointed One. But this brings up another inconvenient question: Can the elder Romulo afford to recover his political values at the sunset of his public life while his son puts pragmatism ahead of idealism at the dawn of his political career.
But then that only goes to show the nature of the ruling coalition, and by extension the true color of its candidate. Compared to the sunshiny yellow of the leading candidate, Noynoy Aquino, the administration has dipped its peculiar chicken in olive drab. If, in a sense, Aquino has been wrapped in the flag—the red, white, and blue of honesty, integrity, and good governance with the yellow rays of optimism shining through—the administration has presented itself as a kind of armored fighting vehicle, cocooning its peculiar chicken in the armor of “where is your evidence, bring it to the proper forum,” knowing all the forums are government-controlled.
By all accounts the peculiar chicken of the ruling coalition is a rootin’ tootin’ rooster, ready to crow and anxious to show he has pretty sharp spurs for fighting. But these are spurs earned and honed in an arena where the very things that make the leading candidate formidable—he would not collaborate, he would not consent, he wouldn’t turn a blind eye to the very things that have made the ruling coalition an example of power maintained with an undemocratic contempt for the electorate—have been rendered inconsequential.
The problem is that these things matter; in fact, they have always mattered except that they have been rendered ineffective for a limited time only. And that limited time is just about over, much as the ruling coalition had done its damnedest to postpone or even cancel the day of democratic reckoning. The administration is entering the presidential contest not out of its own free will, but rather, because it ultimately failed to be the master of events. It survived, but it failed to abolish its constitutional expiration date.
Roman Romulo gamely tried to promote the administration’s peculiar chicken by indirectly indicting the ruling coalition. During his period in the defense department, the younger Romulo argued, no scandal involving corruption affected Teodoro.
But this only reinforces the view that when it comes to honesty, integrity, and good governance, the administration doesn’t have a fighting chance. If any other Cabinet member had ventured an opinion similar to Alberto Romulo’s, you wonder if it would have unleashed Lorelei Fajardo. The reason anyone cares about what Romulo said is his unique reputation among the members of the Cabinet. He has remained pretty much a gentleman, his personal honesty and integrity intact, and the most our diplomats can say about the governance of his department is that he is so prudent as to be practically powerless.
So when the elder Romulo says he will return to first principles, it’s the contrast between this elder gentleman showing that even if he strayed away, he isn’t beyond redemption (but only to a point; he could have gone all the way and resigned), and the younger politician trying to prove he’s a trooper when it comes to a despised ruling coalition, that stands out. Which is why Fajardo had to come out and make heavy hints that if the foreign secretary doesn’t pipe down, the President might consider firing him. In the end, this remains the administration’s most effective weapon in tempering the idealism of its officials: Don’t forget on which side your bread is buttered, thank you very much, or do you want to be a true has-been like the Lakas “originals”?
The elder Romulo said he will vote for Noynoy out of loyalty to the Aquinos, which may be an act of personal repentance and restitution but ignores why the Aquinos parted ways with the Romulos: on points of principle. So in the end, the only thing the elder Romulo can do is say that he will go to his precinct and cast his vote for Aquino, while his son will vote for Teodoro, canceling out daddy’s vote while retaining the Romulo political infrastructure in Pasig City as part of the administration machine. Which makes his father’s expression of intent an exercise in political futility.
That is the administration’s game. It has never conceded that it has so decisively lost in the court of public opinion, having determined that so long as it retains control of the instruments of state—the institutions that determine official culpability and accountability—the country can writhe in outrage for all that anyone in the ruling coalition cares.
Their peculiar chicken can crow all he wants, he can strut around proclaiming platforms and political positions all he wants, he can make all the “right” noises because he stands for a coalition that has clung to power and become bloated from doing all the wrong things, without any real consequences for its members.
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Bert on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 1:53 pm
sa ‘mayroon’, sa ‘wala’, is it going to be logro diyes? no, no, no, not even logro tres.
mountain top experience on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 1:54 pm
why did the chicken (older romulo) crossed the road?
malamang ay dahil wala nang magandang future na maaninag sa administration party.
Carl on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 1:57 pm
“So in the end, the only thing the elder Romulo can do is say that he will go to his precinct and cast his vote for Aquino, while his son will vote for Teodoro, canceling out daddy’s vote . . . ”
*********************************************************
Isn’t that the practice with most political families/dynasties? It isn’t a first, nor will it be the last.
taxj on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 2:57 pm
Whoa there Mr. Sabungero. Not so fast with your paeans for your chicken. Please note that the opportunist is neither voting for what the candidate is nor for what he can do. He is voting because of Cory, out of gratitude. To think that we go to such lengths to remind the mal-educated masa not to sell their votes, and vote for the right reasons instead!
This is not to say that Berto shouldn’t be grateful to Cory for allowing him to serve. On the other hand, Gloria should be grateful to him for allowing her the run his Office the way it shouldn’t be. I’m not saying though that, out of gratitude, she should also vote for Noynoy. But why not if the kid deserves her vote or ours. Hehehe.
My heart doesn’t bleed for the career officials who were bypassed by political proteges. It bleeds because she has to do the job herself after rendering our foreign posts dysfunctional. Assuming that she gives back our money’s worth!
Bert on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 5:17 pm
Inspite of Alberto Romulo’s statement he’s with Noynoy out of respect for his former boss Cory, it’s hard to believe he’s doing it out of gratitude. For why should Romulo be grateful to a person who’s gone and not grateful to his present boss who gave him his job.?
There must be some very strong underlying reason for his actions.
The Cusp on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 6:11 pm
‘Tis the season for loyalty checks, it seems, as in “are you with us or against us?” Seriously, I think a key question in our ongoing debate about whether the crusade behind Noy’s camp should be supported truly centres around the company that he keeps.
Namely, did the initial core group that clamoured for his candidacy do so out of a genuine thirst for reform and good governance? Or are they simply disgruntled former GMA supporters who did not get their “share of the winnings”? The “noise” of destabilisers not genuinely appalled by the “noise” of misgovernance that they allege she represents.
They seem all too eager to coalesce with Erap and his ilk who were shut out of the “spoils” ongoing under GMA. Erap’s repudiation of their offer being a principled thing, if their true motives are to share the future spoils with him in exchange for his blessing.
If it turns out that this is just the continuation of the “game”, one group seeking temporary ascendancy over another, then it will be yet another betrayal of the people’s hopes and dreams. Another roadblock to reform. I would hope that this is not the case, that redemption is truly possible. That we have learnt to end the cycle of rapacious rent seeking and booty capitalism. But alas, it could very well be the opposite.
I am simply posing the question, although I think it would be nearly impossible to verify the answer. If this is a distinct possibility, then I hope Noy, if he truly wishes to honour the Aquino legacy devices a way to separate the wheat from the chaff and innoculate his prospective administration from these corrosive forces. The problem with this of course is, how?
mlq3 on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 6:57 pm
bert, there’s feelings of guilt -and a desire to expiate. the desire to reclaim one’s soul.
Carl on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 8:21 pm
“bert, there’s feelings of guilt -and a desire to expiate. the desire to reclaim one’s soul.”
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Does it really go that deep? Bert Romulo is a gentleman, to be sure. But reclaiming one’s soul might be reading too deeply into the situation. I would tend to go along with what The Cusp dreads. That “this is just the continuation of the “game””.
I am not being blasé about the political games the elite play. Just that this is an old trick from their playbook.
Abe N. Margallo on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 10:47 pm
Inspite of Alberto Romulo’s statement he’s with Noynoy out of respect for his former boss Cory, it’s hard to believe he’s doing it out of gratitude. For why should Romulo be grateful to a person who’s gone and not grateful to his present boss who gave him his job.?
There must be some very strong underlying reason for his actions. – Bert
Bert,
If we go with Carl’s vetting that the older Romulo is a gentleman (and maybe necessarily a statesman) and Manolo’s “he is so prudent as to be practically powerless,” he may not need to go deep into his soul to make a prudent gentleman’s choice; simply hearkening to his innermost gut could be enough “underlying reason for his actions.”
d0d0ng on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 11:11 pm
I’ll say Carl is not that old to go that deep. The 76 yr old gentleman who amusingly claimed to be both a domestic helper and today an OFW (referring to Exec Sec and then DFA Sec) knew the importance and impact of information.
In his address to the Press Club in 2004:
“Words and thoughts have a power never seen before. Ideas can circle the world twice over before you can finish your first sip of coffee. We learn of events halfway around the world mere moments after they happen.”
“It is a fast-paced world that calls on us to have a clear idea of where we see ourselves and how we hope to engage others.”
At his twilight years, Dr. Alberto Romulo can only speak for his own soul. I completely agree with you, Manolo.
taxj on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 11:56 pm
Berto will go clerking for Gloria at the DFA ’til the end of her term. He closes his eyes at what is going on in his department for the money. Anyway, he will always be Dr. Alberto Romulo, except to me, perhaps. Anyway, he can always repent and be forgiven, more so if he secretly supports Noynoy as a way of making amends to reclaim a soul that he presumably may still have. Herein lies the beauty of our Christian belief.
d0d0ng on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 12:02 am
This is something I learned from old folks, they shoot straight from the heart on things that really matters to them.
A yes man for all these years is bound to express his most important thought and hope to engage the Filipinos when it is their time to make a difference.
d0d0ng on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 1:24 am
Let’s get back to that peculiar chicken -Gilberto Teodoro because he is largely faceless which is the main weapon to deflect the administration corruption image.
pilipino on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 3:04 am
“Cuenco noted that many lawmakers may opt not to talk about their preference this early, FEARING their pork barrel allocations might be cut off by Malacañang.”…Inquirer
Another proof of pork barrel influence among politicians.
Let’s push for the abolition of pork barrel in 2010 elections. Any takers from among the presidentiables, future senators and congressmen?
cvj on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 4:36 am
I can only guess that Romulo is a member of the ‘Wait for 2010′ crowd and is just sticking to his deadline.
d0d0ng on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 5:48 am
“made the ruling coalition an example of power maintained with an undemocratic contempt for the electorate”
“The administration is entering the presidential contest not out of its own free will, but rather, because it ultimately failed to be the master of events. It survived, but it failed to abolish its constitutional expiration date.”
=========================================================
Manolo, this is chilling since this is no longer about respecting the democratic will of the people but rather get things done through party machinery to perpetuate control. Gilbert Teodoro Jr is the perfect chicken of choice because he is young at 45 understandably less baggage (effective against gov’t corruption image) and efficient in execution of orders. People don’t realize however, he is the youngest Filipino to hold a very sensitive cabinet position as Defense Secretary at age 43. When emergency powers was flouted this year, the leak was through Angelo Reyes. But in tight security cluster, it is always the Defense Secretary who does all the scenarios for the President particularly the legal justifications.
To recall, 36 years ago Ferdinand Marcos picked up a bar topnotcher and a Harvard Law school master to become his Defense Secretary and became one of the architect of Martial Law and provided its legal basis – Juan Ponce Enrile. This time, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had chosen another bar topnotcher and a Harvard Law school master to become the youngest Defense Secretary and reliable right hand man – Gilbert Teodoro Jr.
This is a very peculiar chicken loaded with danger so to speak.
Carl on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 7:11 am
Call it what you want, in simple English it’s called hedging. In Tagalog it’s called “namamangka sa dalawang ilog”. It’s a common, rather hackneyed, political tactic used by the elite.
For those who want to be sappy or cheesy about it, OK, go with “reclaiming one’s soul”. Methinks that’s reading too much into the tea leaves, though.
taxj on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 8:28 am
Already, my chicken, Gibo is picking up on the surveys. He will be on top of the heap a week or two before the elections. That is when the funds are already in the hands of the machinery. That is also the time when it will breakdown. Each man for himself.
Every member of the frankenstein coalition will fight for their own survival. But no matter. When the minds of the electorate have already been conditioned, a machine generated dagdag-bawas will go unnoticed. Surely, there will be sporadic protests and deaths here in there but that will be all there to it. (Did spilt blood on the streets matter in Iran?)
Of course the over zealous armies of the opposition are not wholely unaware of this so, they will concentrate their forces around the seeming hapless enememy, but this is precisely what Gloria wants them to do because while they’re at it the bulk of her forces can do their thing freely. It will be 2007 all over again. It was already too late when the opposition found out that their victory in the Senate was hollow. It was the composition of Congress that mattered!
What can even a reinvigorated and reinvented Noynoy and a powerhouse Senate do if Gloria still controls Congress? This thing about a prime ministerhip for her is nothing but a scarecrow, much like the phoney conass, but apparently it is again proving to be effective. Even intelectuals such as the likes of Randy David and Atty. Harry Roque are obviously falling for it.
Gloria does not need a cha-cha to save herself. All she needs is her powerful and shameless Girl Friday whom we sometimes call Ombudsman. And she will be there for as long as Gloria calls the shot at the lowest house. Rejoice my friends, Gibo and I will be coming to town to continue what Gloria has been doing so well. Hehehe.
The Cusp on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 8:38 am
If the PP2RC (People Power II Reunited Coalition) is simply a rehash of old politics by one section of the elite, then in fact, there is no difference between them and the Frankenstein Coalition. Romulo’s so-called “collarboration” is actually a valliant effort (better it be him, than someone bereft of ethics, unable to “moderate greed”).
Further, it makes Noy just like any other candidate (even worse actually for providing the illusion of moral authority, when it won’t have the capacity to deliver). We are then back to deciding who represents the least of all evils.
Chris on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 9:29 am
there were 3 major issues in the past few days, RFID, SIM registration, and VFA.
Nonoy is silent on all. Teddy Casino can put together a press release. why can’t Nonoy (or Chiz, or Villar) ?
rego on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 9:33 am
yes cusp, thats how is it.
Bert on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 10:40 am
“Further, it makes Noy just like any other candidate (even worse actually for providing the illusion of moral authority, when it won’t have the capacity to deliver).”-The Cusp
That’s what I call reading too deeply into the crystal ball.
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 10:53 am
That’s quite a logical leap, Cusp, ignoring as it does, sentiments on the ground, the very thing propelling the candidacy -and ignoring how the candidacy is only now coming together, organizationally, while the others have had years to put together their teams.
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 10:57 am
again, no administration, ever, at any time, has ever lost the house. but this has never prevented presidents not from the previously ruling party to essentially appoint a new speaker at will. the house only guarantees survivial; it does not guarantee success; the hollow victory was not the opposition’s, it was the administration’s, because they wanted, but failed, to seize the senate. and by failing to do so their plans were thwarted bringing them to a complication they never wanted to face: an election without an incumbent seeking re-election as president.
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 11:00 am
dodong, except teodoro will have to relinquish the defense portfolio sometime between november 30, the filing of candidacy, and february, the start of the actual campaign. personally i think this is convenient and ties into previous scuttlebutt that the president’s people wanted him shifted from dnd to justice. it will be interesting to see if it’s ebdane or esperon who becomes dnd chief, both of whom can look back to their experience helping the president get elected in 2004.
The Cusp on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 11:12 am
Is it really reading too much and too big a logical leap? I am merely playing devil’s advocate here.
Hasn’t the anti-GMA campaign been organising since 2005? It was spearheaded by Cory herself. Now they have found their champion in Noynoy due to the public outpouring of sympathy for Cory. What if the “Society of Sour Graping” is all there is?
After the election, when the euphoria fades, it will be this core group that might take over where the previous lot left off. This is what Erap’s men predicted would happen under GMA, during the impeachment trial (why was she so eager to take the reins at that point they said?), and by and large, prima facie, the treachery has materialised.
I am simply taken aback by the villification of people like Romulo. It sounds too much like the Inquisition to me.
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 11:32 am
Cusp, it depends on whether you think 2005 and since has merely been politics as normal, or if there are substantive issues at stake. If substantive, Romulo may express personal sentiments but they’re politically meaningless since he hasn’t given up preferment and position to show he is renouncing the choices he made since 2005. it all depends on one’s attitude towards the president, her methods and arguments for staying in power, the damage she has done to the country and its institutions, etc. more of the same logically leads to villar; more of the same but perhaps with a little more finesse leads to teodoro.
if the motive power of noynoy’s candidacy are good governance, integrity and honesty, then you immediately set the criterion that make everybody welcome, so long as they commit to these things, but it is harder to commit if you cannot relinquish identification with the very regime whose disrepute made the noynoy candidacy something of a historical inevitability.
taxj on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 11:32 am
“…the house only guarantees survival…” Need Gloria ask for more?
Yes Chris. At a time when candidates need to make a stand on certain issues, all they can mouth are motherhood statements. Ninoy, in particular, has to prove that he has metamorphosed into the kind of man Manolo has so painstakingly pictured him to be, from the cocoon that he has been during his whole stint in Congress and in the Senate. The clock started ticking days ago.
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 11:34 am
it also depends whether they are genuine issues that require being addressed at this particular time, or issues calculated to redound to the benefit of those that created them; there are artificial issues and genuine issues, issues presented as traps.
The Cusp on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 12:02 pm
There can be no doubt that there were serious questions back in 2005 and now about reforming institutions. Questions around which Romulo as Hamlet (“to resign or not to resign”) and our support for one party or another hinges on whether you believe the group behind say Noynoy, the anti-GMA crowd, are any different.
Is the mantel of moral authority that they cloak themselves with simply illusory? A figment of fantasy? In the midst of our emotional high, we need to soberly consider this possibility. To pierce the veil and get to the heart of the matter: the institution of “booty capitalism” fostered by political elites has an unbroken history in our country. What makes us think it will be any different this time around?
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 12:24 pm
Cusp, it depends on one thing: whether incremental reform is preferable to none at all, and even backsliding. The broader the constituency and the more it includes the non-traditional holders of power, the broader the constituency to apply pressure and sustain reforms. this is dangerous to those who’d prefer no reform at all if only to deepen the fissures in society, or those for whom things are nice as they are. a campaign that anchors itself on transparency (the lack of which has deepened public mistrust), accountability (the failure of which has been obvious and eroded public confidence in the rule of law), personal integrity and honesty (which sets the tone for officialdom) does not guarantee it will be all of these things but casts a positive vote for these things mattering and being demanded of government and officials.
what you’ve pointed out are the things that precisely make this kind of risk-taking attractive to some people and a good motivation for a campaign that reaches out to beyond the usual players in elections.
The Cusp on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 1:40 pm
Even with the broadest base of support that I have seen in my lifetime, the anti-Marcos rainbow coalition, small set of “players” operating from within were able to undo the pledges made in the heat of the campaign because the energy of the larger “publics” are diffuse and disparate. Their voices recede after election day. The idealistic reformers are always the first of the children to be eaten by the Revolution.
We have seen cronyism morph into kamag-anak, inc into kumpadres into more of the same through the years. In the end, it boils down to whether we can trust Noynoy to do the right thing given the voice of his parents ringing in his ears. There must be something more concrete than just an appeal to hope, trust and decency that would signal that we have breached the divide that separates our disappointing past from our inspiring future.
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 2:09 pm
like i said, at the heart of things are whether you will vote for cynicism or vote for optimism as the guiding principle of governance.
The Cusp on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 2:19 pm
I guess that is where I might differ with you. I don’t see as big a contrast between the contending parties. I am a realist (neither pessimist nor optimist). I would rather vote not based on how I feel things ought to be (based on false dichotomies spun thru PR), but based on how they are (based on realistic assessments of what one candidate can and cannot accomplish given the people behind him and his proven abilities).
mlq3 on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 2:22 pm
i don’t suppose there’s any incompatibility, though i’m operating from the assumption the platform will satisfy the skeptics as will the reality of the noy-mar campaign being a broader constituency than that represented by the others, and in stark contrast in some cases, but yes, like i also said, pragmatism is what kept the administration in power among other things, it will be what votes in favor of the status quo in 2010.
The Cusp on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 2:24 pm
Don’t get me wrong, that person in the end might be Noynoy (for want of a better alternative), but I feel we are projecting too much of our own wishes onto him.
Carl on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 2:29 pm
One can be cautiously optimistic.
Anyhow, except for Erap, there aren’t any potential bulls in the china shop among the candidates. Upon cursory examination, no potential Darth Vaders, either. It’s a pretty clean-cut set of aspirants. Whether any of them can take us to great heights is another matter.
My personal attitude about the candidates: “Trust, but verify”.
Bert on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 8:12 pm
“Don’t get me wrong, that person in the end might be Noynoy (for want of a better alternative), but I feel we are projecting too much of our own wishes onto him.”-The Cusp
I agree. Good that there’s enough time left for them candidates to convonce us.
Pansamantala, tingnan muna nating mabuti ang kaliskis ng ating mga manok. Maganda ba ang kanyang mga palo, tama ba ang kanyang mga lipad, ayos na ba ang kanyang tapang para ilaban hanggang sa huling yugto ng kanyang hininga ang ating kapakanan, matalas ba ang kanyang tari?
Kung oo ang sagot, iyan ang aking manok.
SoP on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 9:48 pm
I don’t think kamag-anak inc will apply to Noynoy just because her mom did it. Noynoy mentioned he’s only 1/20th owner of Luisita (I think the proportion is even smaller). A small piece of a crumbling sugar cake empire. He’s the only male among siblings. His sisters can rely on their breadwinner husbands and the hacineda. Kris has bajillions of moolah. The Aquino siblings, with the exception of Kris, grew up to be relatively simple kids in the context of Philippine political/business families. They didn’t become scions of industries like the Ayalas nor did become politically inclined like the Marcos kids.
It’s much more different from when Cory had his immediate brother Peping and cousin Danding to appease. In Cory’s situation, she was the widowed wife who had to navigate alone the political world still tied to notions of familial ties, old boys networks, and political dynasties. There was no one to seek counsel from but family, who unfortunately used and abused her.
Noynoy, being the younger pup, will prove his mantle to the alpha-male tigers Peping and Danding. Will the years playing second fiddle and mediocre boy to everything, from college years to Luisita to Tarlac politics, cause him to do the same on the national stage? Or will he take this opportunity to claw and gnaw the aging tigers and assert his role as alpha male?
Also, being the bachelor that he is, he’s not subject to nor has experience yet the pressures of pleasing a demanding bitch wife and parental instincts of giving the best material advantages to children. Maybe his girlfriend will not become ambitious and a bitch like other wives, who knows?
On the immediate family front (his own, which doesn’t exist, and his siblings), there is no issue. On Peping and Danding, I’m giving it 50/50.
It doesn’t help that he only has 14 million pesos net worth. It might incentivize him to steal more for when he becomes married and has to secure his family’s future. Or maybe it does help him. All I can say is, his character, all that he has shown, is that he’s not greedy and money hungry and has really imbibed simple living. I can recount tales of my aunts and cousins working in hacienda who describe Noynoy as just a simple guy who liked talking to sugar cane cutters, drivers, maids, and such. Will this give him the strength and will to stand up to the likes of Danding and Peping and the other blood-sucking vampires of Philippine political scene? What do you think?
d0d0ng on Fri, 25th Sep 2009 11:22 pm
That snippets of info of simple guy like Noynoy talking to sugar cane cutters, drivers, maids and such is helpful because you can count only a handful of politicians who had that experience because most politicians now grew up in the city, sent to the best schools and became elitist and detached from governed and majority in poverty. Which brings us to the point and contrasting the shadow candidate, how grounded to reality is the peculiar chicken, except pencil pushing the elitist and preserving the status quo?
There is that good nature in Ramon Magsaysay that people today can relate with Noynoy.
d0d0ng on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 2:30 am
Cebu which is the bailiwick of Gloria Arroyo in 2004 election recently gave 51% preference rating to Noynoy over 22% to Villar and 14% to De Castro. The peculiar chicken is very well clobbered at ZERO. This has validated my thoughts on Gibo, Filipinos outside Manila has no idea who is Gilbert Teodoro Jr.
Local officials allied with the administration are fearing that the Palace might pull the plug on their pork barrel.
d0d0ng on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 2:46 am
Davao, another Arroyo’s turf in Mindanao showed similar trending of Noynoy in top preference. Again, the administration peculiar chicken dressed down ZERO.
Administration is having difficulty to explain Cebu and Davao both Arroyos turf after dismissing Noynoy fever as merely Luzon phenomenon.
d0d0ng on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 2:59 am
“dodong, except teodoro will have to relinquish the defense portfolio sometime between november 30, the filing of candidacy, and february, the start of the actual campaign.”
============================================================
Probably this may not happen. At the weekly forum Serye in Manila, Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco said members of the ruling coalition in the House of Representatives could drop Teodoro as standard-bearer if his survey ratings do not “IMPROVE DRASTICALLY” by Nov. 30
In Mindanao, governors are opposing the choice of GIBO instead pushing for Highway Sec Ebdane as standard bearer.
d0d0ng on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 3:30 am
Gilbert Teodoro’s first salvo in national issue is a disaster. He resisted proposed negotiation of VFA to correct unfair provisions.
In his words ““Why should it be renegotiated?” and choose to highlight the financial aid over the unfair provision.
This is done despite Senate resolution authored by the Administration senators to renegotiate unfair provision or abrogate VFA.
d0d0ng on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 3:43 am
Mas masahol pa si Gibo kay Arroyo. At least Arroyo pulled out Filipino troops from Iraq when she realized the national interest in the middle east. Gibo is willing to become banana to the Americans in case of a crime committed to Filipinos by a US soldier.
taxj on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 4:52 am
“…it also depends whether they are genuine issues that require being addressed at this particular time, or issues calculated to redound to the benefit of those that created them; there are artificial issues and genuine issues, issues presented as traps.” – mlq3
So until now Noynoy has not found any issue that requires being addressed? Or is he so afraid that he might fall into a trap? Whatever happened to risk taking as part of a dynamic leadership?
A no talk no mistake stance hardly invites a shift from cynicism to optimism. It’s been that way through all the years. If indeed he is capable of change he must show it now, not after we have cast our votes.
I am not looking for his father’s gift of the gab nor for an elaborate platform that any bright guy can come up with. I’d be happy enough if he’d open up somewhat and tell us something about his favorite cartoon character, his most unforgetable character or experience, his hobbies, and maybe a bit about why he’s still single. Hehehe.
The Cusp on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 7:54 am
The notion that one can deliver good governance by providing an example of honesty at the top is only partly correct. The government is a vast labyrinth of issues and interest groups. It takes knowledge, skill, political astuteness, temperament, discenrnment and good judgement to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
That is why issues of competence vs ineptness are not irrelevant in this election. One can be honest yet inept at curbing corruption and delivering on basic public goods and services. Or one can be accommodating to some special interests, but be very competent in streamlining govt functions and delivering on basic services (the example of Singapore and Malaysia come to mind).
Promising honesty and good governance these days is a lot like offering Communism, they are both unattainable. I would prefer that the candidates stipulate three major objectives that they intend to achieve in their first 18 months in office and how they intend to go about doing this. At least this would bring it down to something more concrete that we can evaluate.
Carl on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 8:46 am
“Promising honesty and good governance these days is a lot like offering Communism, they are both unattainable.”
**********************************************************
Yes, the Chinese and the Vietnamese have realized that.
And we should learn not to take motherhood statements and appealing soundbites at face value. I do hope that there will be opportunities in the months to come to examine the candidates more profoundly.
Noynoy certainly has the momentum. Were elections held today, he would win, hands down. That would be very gratifying to his die-hard supporters. But that would also entail caveats. The opportunists are locking in on the frontrunner. Yesterday, the news was that majority of Congressmen were actually for Noynoy. While it may delight Noynoy supporters, I take that as a red flag.
Abe N. Margallo on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 9:06 am
Don’t get me wrong, that person in the end might be Noynoy (for want of a better alternative), but I feel we are projecting too much of our own wishes onto him. – Cusp
Anyhow, except for Erap, there aren’t any potential bulls in the china shop among the candidates. Upon cursory examination, no potential Darth Vaders, either. It’s a pretty clean-cut set of aspirants. Whether any of them can take us to great heights is another matter. My personal attitude about the candidates: “Trust, but verify”. – Carl
So until now Noynoy has not found any issue that requires being addressed? Or is he so afraid that he might fall into a trap? – taxj
I’m not sure if you guys have had the chance to examine the Liberal Party platform. There I find indices that the reconstituted party may be ready to rock the boat.
Hence, instead of “feeling we are projecting too much,” simply waiting to “verify” or somehow speculating about Noynoy’s fear “to fall into a trap,” haven’t we also thought that maybe we could be reading too little – of the LP party leadership or Noynoy in particular?
One should note for example the stated belief in the LP platform in “social market economy,” the economic system that pays obeisance to the market only nominally and this affirmation: “Market should be our servant and not our master.”
The LP platform likewise provides clear intimation in terms of going the way of industrial democracy, a “dead horse” practically in American industrial relations nowadays.
Both Mar Roxas, the LP President, and Noynoy Aquino, the LP Executive VP until his announcement to be likewise the party’s standard bearer, have (presumably) signed on their party platform; it bears their approval.
Now, Nonoy’s acrid assessment of the malaise of our society is rather unreserved, almost uncouth: “matindi ang kabulukang bumabalot sa ating lipunan.” This painful frustration that Noynoy couldn’t hide is matched only by his passion for social justice as reflected in quality legislative measures he has initiated. One example is Senate Bill No. 1370 that would grant annual productivity incentive to workers in the private sector at 10% of the company’s net profits before taxes
In the explanatory notes for Senate Bill 2036 that Nonoy has also authored (the measure seeks to impose higher penalties for non-compliance of the prescribed adjustments in the wage rates of workers), he has called attention to the constitutional mandate to the State “to afford full protection to labor and (guarantee) that workers shall be entitled not only to security of tenure and humane conditions of work but also living wage and participation in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits . . . .”
The public policies like the above that Noynoy champions in the Senate are also spelled out in the LP platform such as the undertaking therein to:
“. . . ensure that every employee has a right to participate in decision-making in their enterprise” and “set up a program for Industrial Partnership to help companies and their employees find the precise form of partnership which best suit them.”
“ . . . legislate to establish the right of every private sector employee in a substantial company to have access to a share in ownership and/ or in the profit they help to create” and “encourage profit-related pay, employee share-ownership schemes and employee buy-outs.”
“. . . spread employee ownership and participation” in order to “encourage wages to be set according to the profitability of individual firms.”
Given the profound political philosophy, goals and visions evident in the LP platform as well as in actual measures being pursue to implement them, aren’t we in fact seeing in Noynoy and Mar a tandem not merely promising honesty and good governance but of Weberian charismatic “bulls in the China shop” in the pursuit of a unifying ideology geared up to break away from traditional authority?
The Cusp on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 9:37 am
With all due respect, the LP platform, which I studied years ago, since believe it or not, I thought of becoming a member, is more of a statement of philosophy than of policy or program.
I don’t see for instance the manner by which the Noy-Mar tandem are going to institute reforms that will curb corruption other than through their example. Big scams like the ones involving fertislisers or the NBN attract media attention due to their connection to high public officials and their size, but how will Noy-Mar curb the myriad of mini-scams that proliferate everyday without so much as a blip on the media’s radar?
The productivity bonus bill that Noy filed actually exposes his lack of understanding the complexities and unintended consequences of mandating such an industrial relations policy on all types of businesses across sectors.
Mar in his previous pronouncements has been a tad bit the populist, opposing VAT on petroleum without stating how else to fix the fiscal crisis. In other words, no hard choices, have been made, only an expectation for a free lunch.
SoP on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 9:47 am
Liberal Party? They should rename it Labor Party.
Carl on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 10:11 am
He! He! Excuse the skepticism, Abe. Experience has taught us that political parties seldom, if ever, live up to their manifesto. When push comes to shove, they resort to what is most politically expedient.
I want to be proven wrong, but even Lakas-NUCD had its own guidelines and “ideology” which, in practice, became a travesty. Talk is cheap, Abe. The test of the pudding is in the eating. Let’s see how the LP creed holds up in the heat of political realities.
It’s easy to talk principles when you’re a small, almost insignificant, party. Reality will set in when, all of a sudden, the party is thrust into the limelight and, almost out of the blue, becomes the ruling party.
There are thousands of remoras just waiting to attach themselves to the potential President’s party. As the news tells us, a not-so-silent switch is already happening in both houses of congress. I am sure it is occurring at the local level as well. Suddenly, the LP will be weighed down by its own success.
Even Communist Party of the Philippines, which has upheld its ideology most consistently, has often been forced to deviate, despite the rigid discipline it imposes.
The Cusp on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 10:16 am
In mature democracies, party leaders of presidential contenders, when they propose alternate policies or programs have to show how much they will cost, how will they fund them. They have to back it up by independent verification by a Congressional Budget Office. For example, McCain and Obama presented alternate health care proposals for scrutiny in this manner.
Running after the Marcoses? Finishing land reform? More spending on education? health? justics? How much will it cost and how are they going to fund it? The most basic question of course is, how are they going to prevent the swelling of public debt which is looming as a renewed threat once again.
Sadly, the only individuals who have the capacity for tackling such hard policy questions in this manner (the Joey Salcedas and Ralph Rectos) have not been very sellable to the public. I would like to see more of this kind of thing in the debates though. Enough with motherhood statements and talk of political will, etc.
Abe N. Margallo on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 10:45 am
Cusp, if you have read too the Democratic Party and Republican Party platforms, you would also note that they are likewise largely motherhood statements (there are even unnecessary bickerings in both).
But with the way you require how party platform should look like, you seem to be asking for implementing rules and regulations. I’m not sure there’s such a detailed discussion on “public option” for instance in the Democratic party platform itself.
There is one sure way to curb corruption, lock up the bad guys (and gals).
Noynoy has provided certain exemptions in the bill. We should expect Noynoy to realize of course that the measure, radical as it may seem, would be subject to intense competition. One thing you could tell from that measure I believe is that Noynoy is not simply a Jeffersionian democrat Ninoy was (or anthropocentric Cory was). He is his own man.
I also didn’t like the way Mar opposed the MOA-AD. But you vote for a candidate as a package deal.
Carl, even Weber expected his charismatic leader to be routinized. But you can’t if you have a mission larger than you.
mlq3 on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 10:53 am
It is a red flag and will be a test of the kind of leadership he’s set out to provide. Noynoy has to sort things out with his version of the Magsaysay Credo, to lay out the thread that can and should unite the candidate and his followers. Otherwise it will be a Big Bloat in expectation of more of the same.
mlq3 on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 11:00 am
there is risk taking and there is risk taking; there is addressing genuine issues that arise from the voters or issues presented by the administration for its own purposes. discerning between the two is something the public will notice and take into consideration.
mlq3 on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 11:03 am
d0d0ng interesting if it happens. but gibo is the president’s manok. and the ruling coalition are all capons gone fat and sleek under the president’s care. they’re cackling to prove independence but when pichay was teased by some media colleagues that the decision to anoint gibo had been made, he also strutted a bit but in the end had to meekly admit that yes, madame made the decision for them.
SoP on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 11:03 am
We’re all wasting keyboard taps discussing platforms. A few months into office, Noynoy will borrow money, be it from the Chinese or IMF or issuing government bonds, to pay the debt and pay for centrist government programs.
The Cusp on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 11:44 am
I think we are confusing platforms with manifestos here. A platform can be fairly constant, but a manifesto is a laundry list of promises that you take to the voters in an election, which changes each time. You were referring to LP’s platform as proof of concrete policies. I was looking for something like the latter.
Anyway, for a proposed policy or program posed while in opposition to be credible, it has to be costed, otherwise it is just pure politicking. The specifics of a policy can be worked out later (such as a provision for public option in health care reform), but the advocate has to calculate roughly the impact on the public purse.
In order to fund new programs without raising new taxes, candidates will have to make hard choices, such as 1) reforming the NFA and other poorly targeted social spending, 2) banning new provincial polytechnics, 3)rationalising fiscal incentives in freeports, 4)indexing sin taxes to inflation, and lastly 6) eliminate or reduce pork barrel spending.
I am sure the Congressmen and local officials who now say they favour Noy will love to hear all that!
Abe N. Margallo on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 1:32 pm
Cusp, my understanding is party platforms are political manifestos. They are basically intended to appeal to voters to vote for the party’s candidates and therefore are not crafted to look like bills for instance ready for enactment as public policy.
Anyway, you don’t expect run-of the mill voters to weigh the scenarios you cited before casting their votes, do you?
Doesn’t the reality run like this: if I win because of the perception that I have the credibility, sincerity and ability to make things happen, I will just hire you later to make those things happen?
Now -just to make some funny situations to emphasize a point – supposing you were lucky to make the cut, it won’t be necessary for you, I guess, to cost the prosecution of a former president for example such that if the business case does not support it, you would recommend to breach an election promise; otherwise it could be perceived more as politicking than when you just proceed with the prosecution at whatever cost? Same thing, I suppose, if one of your campaign promises is to revise the pledge of allegiance, you won’t go through rough estimation either, right?
The Cusp on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 1:43 pm
Actually that is why I said this happens in “mature democracies” particularly in parliamentary democracies. If Noy-Mar want to prove they represent new politics, then they should prove it somehow since according to SoP, they will simply be doing more of the same centrist programs, but then why is the public dissatisfaction with PGMA so high.
If change is what they want, then it what form? Good governance? But again how? Will they boost the funds for the Ombudsman, Sandigan Bayan, and PAGC, or increase salaries of govt workers?
I did hear them say instead of doing 10 things all at once, they wanted to prioritise two or three. So that’s a start. I am curious to hear what those priorities might be.
ramrod on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 1:59 pm
Cusp, my understanding is party platforms are political manifestos. They are basically intended to appeal to voters to vote for the party’s candidates and therefore are not crafted to look like bills for instance ready for enactment as public policy.
Anyway, you don’t expect run-of the mill voters to weigh the scenarios you cited before casting their votes, do you?
Doesn’t the reality run like this: if I win because of the perception that I have the credibility, sincerity and ability to make things happen, I will just hire you later to make those things happen?
—————————————–
Hard reality feels like a dousing of ice cold water.
So its basically a selling contest then? He or the campaign/sales/marketing team who can best sell their candidate wins? Hmmm, billboards,
tv ads, hand gestures, jingles, tag lines, puppy dog eyes, later singing/dancing (boogy) on stages…indecent amounts of money poured into campaign sorties…battling for top-of-mind? or appealing to emotion? Then there’s the precinct level low-intensity-conflicts…
…I really hope these guys have a product that delivers not just so much hype…
The Cusp on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 2:33 pm
Ramrod, unfortunately even the parliamentary politics in the UK and Australia are veering towards presidential type campaigns with all their fanfare and media, “spin” hype.
But at least when they hold debates it is mature because they present budget estimates vetted by third parties. I hope we can move away from policy developed on free rider/free lunch mentality.
Even Noy’s proposed productivity bonus system would require an enforcement mechanism, meaning more manpower for DOLE. Accountants and lawyers to troll through financial statements to determine whether bonuses should be paid. The NLRC would have its dockets filled with cases to hear.
If every senator and congressman developed laws like these… er, well, actually that is kinda what’s been happening and why we have a ballooning deficit!!!! It seems Noy is no different in his policy development process than his counterparts in Congress. A ha! An epiphany if ever there was one!
Carl on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 4:35 pm
Yes, Cusp, I expect that dealing with the deficits and streamlining the bureaucracy will be among the most unpalatable issues the next administration would have to confront. If these involve raising taxes and prioritizing spending programs so that some of the fat gets cut off, they’d have to be ready with their flak jackets.
They can still go around those, by not taking the bull by the horns and simply dithering and buying time. But it will be a test of their resolve and whether they can, as Abe puts it, break away from the traditional way of doing things.
karl garcia on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 7:31 pm
with an estimated public debt of 14 trillion usd for 2010, I surmise they are only in the cost part.
for funding, the usual suspects:
the whole world.
Abe N. Margallo on Sat, 26th Sep 2009 11:29 pm
I did hear them say instead of doing 10 things all at once, they wanted to prioritise two or three. So that’s a start. I am curious to hear what those priorities might be. – Cusp
Cusp, I too want to hear those priorities. But if I have the opportunity of “projecting too much of our (my) wishes” onto the candidates, my own priorities if limited to three are: 1) how they will tackle the national debt differently than it is done now; 2) what’s their plan on how to persuade our wealth holders to bring assets parked somewhere back into active in-country investment; and 3) on which side they are on the federalization debate (with Mindanao peace process as a logical corollary issue).
I’m sure you are not suggesting that the campaign should be a budget session for number crunchers. I don’t think US mature voters went for Dubya (over Al Gore) because of his skills on that department.
Anyway, you’re right that unless ours is parliamentary in form or we have an effective recall system, we really don’t have an inter-election reckoning for breach of campaign promises, not to mention that the presidential tenure is constitutionally fixed at a single six-year term without re-election. So, if the SC, for instance, interprets that breach of political platform constitutes an impeachable offense of betrayal of public trust, the only other option could be impeachment or otherwise, if the breach is grave, resort to old-fashioned direct democracy that we seem to have a better handle on.
If Noynoy/Mar tandem is given the chance, I look at the first term as being more focused on housecleaning, building the foundation for a “mature democracy,” and possibly economic takeoff, and the second term (Mar’s term) to sustain the takeoff. I’d like to see guys like you to be on board the LP team to crunch those numbers.
SoP on Sun, 27th Sep 2009 6:44 am
“I’d like to see guys like you to be on board the LP team to crunch those numbers.”
Ever had a huge mortgage on a termite infested house? Car repayments on a car that got total-wrecked? And a minimum wage job while living on the most expensive city on earth? Then you my friend, are a living, breathing metaphor for the Philippines.
How do you crunch a number on a thing like that? You can’t. You just have to work 20 hours a day five days a week while devoting your weekends to rebuilding your house and your car, while living in the simplest manner possible (no, absolutely no luxuries, while buying the cheapest necessities).
Oh, and as a clincher, there’s an Ondoy sized rain coming to your city in a year. You have to prepare for that too. Hopefully, politicians in this country will get in to the mindset that the Philippines is like a financially-fucked individual who has to work really, really hard for many years to get his life back on track.
SoP on Sun, 27th Sep 2009 6:57 am
Oh and I forgot, you just got diagnosed with tuberculosis. And you have a wife. With eight children.
anthony scalia on Thu, 1st Oct 2009 5:04 pm
the only “liberal” in the Liberal Party is the name
ang kakampi ng Kampi ay sila sila lang
Lakas is weak
the only “united” in United Opposition is the name
political platform? ano yan?
taxj on Fri, 16th Oct 2009 9:30 am
“I am simply taken aback by the villification of people like Romulo. It sounds too much like the Inquisition to me.” – Cusp
The elite just can’t seem to do anything wrong. For them returning a favor is an honorable act. For us, the lesser endowed ones, it’s an illegal commerce for which we are ridiculed and condemned no end. Utang na loob!
What’s the difference between a kilo of rice and a sensitive position in government? More so if it deteriorates under your watch!
Focus on form « Filipino Voices on Fri, 23rd Oct 2009 9:41 am
[...] current political debate highlighting the political substance of Noynoy with this post of mine at mlq3’s website: One should note for example the stated belief in the LP platform in “social market economy,” [...]