By Harvey Keh
Last night, I received a text message from former Isabela Governor Grace Padaca informing me that she needed more than P700,000 just to be able to pursue her electoral protest against the current incumbent Governor Bodjie Dy. Padaca lost by less than 1 percent of the vote despite winning in more than 70 percent of all the municipalities in their province. Sadly, her opponents must have managed to manipulate the results of Cauayan City. There, she lost by more than 30,000 votes, which were more than enough to erase her lead by the last day of canvassing.
Padaca is now in a quandary. She is confident that she can win her protest but she does not have enough money or even a fourth of the amount that she would need to continue her protest. This shows us how even electoral laws and processes favor those who have money.
Often, even if the person protesting was clearly cheated in the elections, he or she can’t get justice. Does this mean that those who are not rich but have noble intentions to serve our country should no longer run in our elections?
Our Commission on Elections (Comelec) should really do something about this so that it can help level the playing field for righteous and good leaders like Padaca. If this kind of set-up continues, more corrupt politicians would just be emboldened to continue to bribe and cheat their way into public office since they know that their opponents won’t have enough funds to challenge their “stolen” victory anyway.
It’s a pity for our country if the likes of Padaca, who is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Government Service and an acknowledged icon of good governance, is not given a fair and equal chance to see her electoral protest through just because they have no money.
Jueteng: Still a big problem in Aquino administration
Talking about elections in our country, one big black spot that continues to hound the present administration is its inability to solve the “jueteng” problem. Despite all the pronouncements made by the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by General Nicanor Bartolome, it seems that the promises to eradicate jueteng have so far remained to be empty.
What is scary about this is that many of these corrupt local politicians are in cahoots with the jueteng lords and actually serve as their protectors. If these jueteng operations remain unchecked, the billions of pesos earned by the illegal gambling operators will continue to be used to buy votes and finance the campaign of their candidates, bribe election officials and cheat their way again into power.
If Malacañang is really serious about promoting good governance and the righteous path, it should really be more serious in attacking this problem in our society. I do not wish to wake up one day with even our President and other national leaders being controlled by jueteng lords.
Corona impeachment trial: A microcosm of justice?
While waiting for my turn inside a government office, I talked to a security guard about his views on the current impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona. The security guard was lamenting to me that he really wants to make sure that Corona gets convicted but it seems that the prosecutors aren’t really prepared to present their case. However, the security guard added that it doesn’t necessarily mean that if Corona has a good set of lawyers who are clearly superior in terms of litigation, that Corona already is innocent of the charges lodged against him. Sadly, he said that this has been happening in our country everyday as evidenced by the fact that many poor Filipinos are often victimized by more powerful people but these criminals easily get away with their crimes because they have the money to pay for good lawyers who can easily twist the law in their favor. He is hoping that this will no longer be the case in the Corona impeachment given that it is already clear that he violated his sworn statement when he failed to declare several bank accounts and properties in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Aside from this, he mentioned that it didn’t take a college graduate just to be able to see how Corona has used his power and influence to ensure that many Supreme Court decisions favor former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. I am sure that many fellow Filipinos are thinking of the same things now. I just hope that our Senators will be up to the challenge of showing all of us that justice in our country will no longer be just for the rich and powerful but it will be applied equally to all.
Learn about Asia, Learn about Malaysia
The Asia Society Philippines in cooperation with the Embassy of Malaysia will be holding Asia in my Pocket: Malaysia. This is a seminar that aims to introduce the culture, tourism and business practices of Malaysia to interested professionals in our country. The event will be held on March 8, Thursday, 6pm to 9pm at the AIM Conference Center, Legazpi Village, Makati City. For more information, please contact Nash at (02) 752-4374.
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