The 2013 local election is looming in the horizon. The LP and UNA will field its respective slates – from Senatong to Tongressman down to Tongcilor. Each political grouping will duke it out and voters will be made to choose between personalities because there is no ideological difference between all the Filipino parties.
The difference between LP, UNA, NPC, and the Makabayan is the number of letters it takes to spell out the party’s name, the size of the war chest, and the number of celebrities they can pull. Policies-wise, all these parties are indistinguishable from each other.
They are all plunderers – ALL of them. They are all proponents of the welfare state – “free education”, “free health”, “free entertainment”, “free housing”. All of them are also advocates of bigger government – more agencies to support their pet projects. They also advocate bigger public spending, as in bribery in broad daylight. Lastly, all of them will support more taxes, more public fees, more regulations. And once in power, if any of their respective offices have savings – you can bet your last hard earned centavo that they will find a way to spend the money – with the COA’s connivance at that.
The outcomes of the change in personalities without an accompanying change in economic policy will obviously be the same.
According to the conventional wisdom, EDSA restored our democracy and freedoms. Really? Having the civilian authorities implement the same policies previously undertaken by the military will change outcomes?
The view within the box
Why don’t we look at how the Philippines has fared before and after EDSA based on GDP Per Capita at constant 2000 US$.
Why use the GDP per capita? The gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the primary indicators of a country’s economic performance. It is calculated by either adding up everyone’s income during the period or by adding the value of all final goods and services produced in the country during the year. Per capita GDP is sometimes used as an indicator of standard of living as well, with higher per capita GDP being interpreted as having a higher standard of living. (Investopedia)
Why use constant 2000 US$? An adjusted value of currency used to compare dollar values from one period to another. Due to inflation, the purchasing power of the dollar changes over time, so in order to compare dollar values from one year to another they need to be converted to constant dollar values. (Investopedia)
21 lost years, courtesy of the EDSA “revolution”
What the numbers are showing us is that after replacing Marcos – and with Aquino decentralizing control to oligarch cronies ( as differentiated from eliminating control) of the economy, the Filipinos standard of living actually went down. The eleven (11) years of raising the standard of living from 1972 to 1983 was erased in just three years from 1983 to 1986.
It then took another eighteen (18) years – 1986 to 2004 to raise the standard of living to the peak achieved in 11 years of martial law. The 3 years of reduction in GDP per capita followed by the 18 years of rebuilding it meant the Philippines lost 21 years of potential growth.
EDSA’s defenders will claim that democracy and freedom was restored. In retrospect, I find that hard to believe because the economy remains under state control.
True, the administration has changed hands from military to a civilian bureaucracy – but the policies and regulations remain the same if not gotten worse.
It used to be that in doing business you only talked to a few key players. Today, you have talk to a whole lot more – from head of office down to cashier, to COA, to the janitor.
Does “democracy” mean a change in the ownership of electric power monopoly from Marcos to Lopez?
Does “democracy” mean a change in the ownership of telecom monopoly from Marcos to Pangilinan or Ayala?
Does “freedom” mean being able to choose between the horrible Internet plan of Globe versus the more horrible Internet plan of PLDT?
Does “freedom” mean being able to choose between the tacky and sleazy noontime shows of ABS-CBN versus the equally tacky and sleazy noontime shows of GMA-7?
The presence of monopolies should remind us that the controls of martial law were never dismantled – they were just given a civilian face. The song, however, as Led Zeppelin would say it - remains the same.
The view outside the box
The farce of the EDSA “Revolution” becomes even more glaring when we step out of the country and compare the Philippines’ standard of living to its ASEAN counterparts.
The Philippine economy parallels the footprint of the restrictive socialist economies of ASEAN.
When we step beyond the confines of the Philippines and remove the horse blinders, the numbers tell a bigger story, possibly even the biggest joke in Philippine history.
While the more open economies of Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore were growing in leaps and bounds – Severe Hunger remained constant and Self-Rated Poverty increased in the Philippines – regardless of more CCT, pork barrel spending, or Orwellian word play by legislators in calling their restrictive regulations as “liberalization”.
The freedom of Filipinos to choose the goods and services that make sense to them (which was enshrined by the Philippines founding fathers in the Malolos Constitution and removed by the succeeeding foreign occupation forces) have yet to find their way back into the hands of the average Juan de la Cruz.
That the recent 2013 economic freedom index shows the Philippines as being “mostly not free” truly begs the question – what “freedom” was EDSA talking about?
Filipinos were conned into voting for an incompetent housewife who became the figure head of the insular and parochial land owning classes.
Yes, the hordes of Aquino, Drilon, Abad, Santiago, Pimentel, Guingona, Cojuangco, Lopez, Ayala eviscerated Marcos – but instead of eliminating the proverbial ring of Mordor, Cory Aquino and her anointed successors chose to wear Sauron’s ring.
Today, Filipinos remain as poor and wretched as ever. Fortunately, the Philippine media is controlled by Filipinos – and citizens who don’t have access to the Internet remain plugged to the radio and TV sets reminiscent of Stalin’s Russia and Mao’s Red China. And if Angara can have it his way, even the Internet will be controlled by EDSA’s self-anointed vanguards. Where’s the freedom in that?
Epilogue
So we have a situation where no matter which personality wins, the same failed policies will be implemented. Don’t expect the outcomes to be any different. Instead expect more circuses to take your attention away from demanding, if not restoring your freedom and liberty to pursue your happiness.
Lastly, the art of the dagdag-bawas was honed during the Marcos era.
In the EDSA era, dagdag-bawas has gone electronic with the introduction of the HCOS-PCOS.
As the COMELEC is being beefed up with ballot magicians, it makes one wonder whether the incumbent government is legitimate at all and if not, whether the next batch will be just as illegitimate.
Enjoy the show folks – smile, you are all captives of the EDSA illusion.
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