First of all I’d like to express how proud I am of the Philippines’ Commission on Elections (COMELEC). It overcame the hexes cast upon it by shamans in the Philippine Media and the parties they supported, and stepped up in the face of overwhelming disapproval. Amidst the descent to a primitivist government, the COMELEC stands tall as a lone beacon of modernism in our backward society. To be fair to the Inquirer.net, its esteemed Editor sucked it in and issued a statement albeit just a wee bit short of an apology (my boldface added):
CONTRARY to the most dismal expectations, quite a number of which were shared by the Inquirer, the country’s first nationwide automated elections have turned out to be a success.
Just forget for now that to these bozos in Kamaganak Inc, “success” is necessarily presupposed by an Aquino win. As such, the statement is not quite too far up in my scale of classiness but, hey, that’ll do, mate — for now. For good measure, just to keep the Inquirer.net on its toes, I might point out, again that in the last eight to 24 months, the venerable rag behaved in a way that significantly SUBTRACTED from the much ballyhooed credibility of an industry (in which it shares leadership with another modern-day crony organisation, ABS-CBN) that sees itself as our society’s “guardian of truth and freedom”.
It is, indeed, ironic that the COMELEC, for so long the blacksheep institution of the Philippine public sector, has rocketed to the top of civil service excellence on the back of a feat of technology implementation, while the stalwart relics of 1980’s emo politics now stand under the stern gaze of a public that have all but caught on to the con operation they had subject Da Pinoy to for the last twenty five years.
If Cory Aquino had brought pride to the Philippine Nation in 1986 for leading the (now perverted) people power “revolution” of that year, Noynoy Aquino, her eldest son, now stands to do the same twenty four years later — by standing aside as the institution he sought to undermine stands tall and casts a gloating shadow on his ironic win in legitimate polls.
Not to diminish the achievement of the COMELEC, it must be said that it does not take much to cast a shadow upon the smallness of the second Aquino administration. For those who came in late into the “debate” on who should be President of the Philippines, people who voted for Noynoy Aquino lack a convincing answer to the question of “Why Noynoy?” posed by commenter “stupidman” here. Noynoy supporters voted with their gut, on the basis of a pedigree platform, and under the influence of a Media-engineered bandwagon effect.
I see the dawn of a government headed by a person who cannot lead as an opportunity for the Filipino to lead the way they were meant to as the most IMPORTANT elements in any truly democratic society.
It’s time Filipinos take accountability beyond being mere voters. Being constituents of a democratic government entails responsibility beyond the Vote. Electing a president is not the end of our role. It is the beginning of it.
We must recall how Noynoy Aquino and his supporters broke their promise to have a real platform (not the type they put forth that merely insults the Filipino’s already meager intelligence) tabled by the time the official campaign period started. That requirement is even more relevant now that Aquino has real responsibility.
The measures of a president’s success are quite simple: a president must have:
(1) A clear understanding of his country’s most pressing issues – the As-is State;
(2) A lucid view of what he envisions his country to look like by the time he steps down six years later – the To-be State of the Philippines in 2016.; and,
(3) A roadmap to get us there — The Plan.
Yes, Mr President: Platform, plez™. It becomes more real now — specially to the people you’ve made promises to. The countdown to 2016 is on. And we will be watching — and leading your government.
So what’s the plan, Mr President?
benign0 is the webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
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