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Political parties in this country
have been likened to revolving doors where getting in is as easy,
and as frequent, as getting out. Their alphabet soup of acronyms
hardly say anything important about the organizations they stand for
or where the loyalty of their leaders, ward bosses and foot soldiers
really lies. This uncertainty of political allegiance is true at the
national level as it is at the local—but more so at the latter.
Note the current
configuration of the two major coalitions vying for 12 seats in the
Senate. In the administration’s Team Unity are several candidates
that not too long ago were bosom buddies of former President Joseph
Estrada. On the list of the Genuine Opposition and self-styled
independents, meanwhile, are incumbent senators and congressmen who
won their current posts in the 2001 and 2004 elections mainly
through Malacañang’s sponsorship.
The alignments
and realignments of candidates in the senatorial race are
confusing enough. Yet they are replicated hundreds and thousands of
times over in the congressional districts, provinces, cities and
municipalities—and the situation has become downright confounding.
In a perfect
world, it should not be difficult to distinguish which candidates
are proadministration or opposition. But the readiness of many
politicos to cut deals with whichever political formation can give
them the greater advantage has all but erased in local politics the
demarcation line that somehow differentiates Team Unity from GO at
the national level.
Last week Social
Weather Stations released the results of its first-quarter survey,
which showed that 36 percent of its 1,200 respondents throughout the
archipelago would choose opposition candidates, while only 28
percent would vote for the administration’s local bets.
The survey was
conducted February 24 to 26, a full month before the list of
candidates for House seats and provincial, city and municipal posts
was finalized. In all probability, the respondents were made to
select between two faceless abstractions. In our highly personalized
political culture, such choices often lead to responses that are,
well, neither here nor there.
In the
Philippines political parties rise and fall on the basis of their
leaders’ charisma and wherewithal—or lack of them. This is why
practically every administration, since Marcos, has built its own
“coalition” around it but these combinations quickly faded as
soon as their caudillo lost power.
Where voters have
neither the formal education nor the native intelligence to vote
wisely politics inevitably becomes personality-oriented.
On March 29 the
blank spaces for administration and opposition candidates for local
posts were finally filled. In its next survey, SWS would likely
present an altogether different set of findings.
Gabriel Claudio
was therefore stating the obvious when he responded to the SWS
first-quarter findings thus: “Local candidates are voted not
because they are administration or opposition . . . Voters don’t
know the difference or they couldn’t care less.”
In a text message
to reporters last weekend, President Arroyo’s chief political
adviser emphasized: “Local candidates are chosen on the basis of
their specific individual acceptability to their constituents.”
Lakas-CMD is the
dominant party in the ruling coalition. For the midterm election it
has 81 candidates for congressmen, 50 governors, 56 city mayors, 674
municipal mayors and thousands of provincial board members and
councilors.
All in all, Lakas
is fielding close to 10,000 candidates for the 17,000 positions at
stake. Many of these local candidates are sitting officials who have
all the advantages of incumbents. (Wink, wink.)
What can further
confound pollsters—and others who pin their hopes on preelection
survey results—is the participation of what its critics call a
“company union.”
Aside from Lakas,
the ruling coalition is made up of, the Kabalikat ng Malayang
Pilipino (Kampi), the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Laban ng
Demokratikong Pilipino and the Liberal Party-Atienza wing.
But it is
Tweedledum Kampi that seems to be giving Tweedledee Lakas a run for
its money in many local races.
Reggie Velasco,
Kampi deputy secretary-general, said at a recent Kapihan sa Sulo
that the President’s official party is fielding one senatorial
candidate (Joker Arroyo), 121 congressional candidates, 38
gubernatorial and 28 vice-gubernatorial bets, 126 for provincial
board members, 55 for city mayors, 792 for municipal mayors, 331 for
city vice mayors, 457 for municipal vice-mayors and 2,305 for
municipal councilors.
In many of the
local races where Lakas bets are vying against Kampi’s, there are
no candidates affiliated with GO. In these races, the candidates of
both Lakas and Kampi are expected to carry the Team Unity senatorial
candidates. If they know what’s good for them, that is.
This is one
strategy that the opposition evidently failed to anticipate. GO
focused almost entirely on the senatorial contest to the detriment
of the local contests.
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