THE deterioration of the quality of politics has easily been the most distinguishing characteristic of the last several decades in the Philippines.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, one had to be a Bar topnotcher or a professional of sterling academic achievement to qualify for positions of national leadership, a person in the like of Claro Recto, or Jose Diokno, or Diosdado Macapagal, or Ferdinand Marcos, or Emmanuel Pelaez, or Carmen Planas, or Arturo Tolentino.
In the decade of the 1990s, the necessary qualification was “name recall,” the possession of a name that the masses could readily remember. And who were the people whose names could readily be remembered by the majority? The people in the entertainment industry, exemplified by the likes of the Revillas, the Lapids and, yes, the late Fernando Poe Jr.
More currently, there is what some writers call “funeral politics,” the election of nincompoops to stratospheric positions simply because they happen to be the sons or daughters of recently departed political icons.
This one directional deterioration has prompted a newspaper columnist, former Sen. Francisco Tatad, to call it the “idiotization” of Philippine politics.
This is sensible analysis, and we cannot just stand idly by and allow this idiotization to continue unabated. Now that Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has parted ways with President Aquino, the way is clear for all aspirants for the presidency, including the Vice President himself, to identify themselves and give us an idea of what they stand for beyond the generalities that our politicians spew out every day.
It may be that we must wait until after these aspirants have filed their certificates of candidacy in September for them to articulate their views on the issues of the day; but whenever the proper time is, we demand that these people show us their program of government in the period they expect to be in office.
We want to know what their understanding is of the problems that confront our people and our country. What do they think of poverty, unemployment, economic stagnation, Mamasapano, the Bangsamoro basic law, the Chinese problem, amendments to the Constitution, graft and corruption, to mention a few of the issues that challenge us? We want to know how they propose to respond to these problems.
Our leaders, particularly our senators, have so degraded themselves by their sheer incompetence and association with plunder and other forms of moral depravity that anybody, including a newcomer emerging from nowhere, who can utter a sensible sentence or two and appear to be uninterested in financial matters, instantly becomes an eminent candidate for the presidency.
Is funeral politics, or a version of it, rearing its ugly head again, never mind that the icon’s departure has been 10 years ago? Heavens forbid.
Still and all, funeral politics or not, we demand that all aspirants for the presidency of our country present us their program of government for the years 2016 to 2022.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano