Farce, Fantasy and the Philippine Election 2010

There is a farce now showing on stage of the Philippine 2010 Elections. This farce is all filled with fantasy and humor, which probably happens only in the 'd Pilipins.

In one speeech activity we had in the class, I asked my students to present a profile of the person who they were fans of. Some named presidentiables, others popular icons,and some more other cartoon heroes. What thsee make sense of me, is that the young generation in the Philippines is needing a leader to look up to, such as a hero whose powers can do the unimaginable. Yet, that leader is confused to iconic images of popularity, fame and fortune. In another way, such can be understood as fantasy merging into the "reality", or a desire for something greater, that seems to be impossible.

No wonder names of presidentiables like Manny Villar, Nonoy Aquino, Dick Gordon and Gilbert Teodoro, and vice presidentiables such as Jejomar Binay and Loren Legarda came as exemplars of whom my students were fans of. But, they came along with names of Michael Jackson, Marylyn Monroe, Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, Kris Aquino and Manny Pacquiao. Other names that were dropped included cartoon characters and anime icons such as SpongeBob, Naruto, Ironman and Barbie. Objects personified and personalities that people look up to, idealized and idolized are to me a reflection of the sublime effect of repressed desires coming into our conscious lives. In one training I attended, one speaker commented that the superheroes we look up to are our alterego.

We get fascinated with them, because we just don't have what they have, which we would like to have. The abilities that they possess, and the powers that they have, the popularity that they gained, which we enjoy seeing, reflect our inequities as individuals. Thus, we fantasize with our desires, then we think we would want to be like them. Last night, I brought my neice and nephews to see Ironman, and after the movie, while having dinner, there I noticed how they would like to defeat Tony Stark's talent and genius in producing the element. One wanted to make a wired house with computer holograms. They thought of so many magnanimous things far beyond the reach of reasons. What they saw seemed to be so real to them, fantasy seeping into their realities.

This is the same situation that I sense among some voters today. Manny Villar presents himself to be the messiah of the poor, who could make the Filipino masses rich and wealthy, as he claims he was able to rise from poverty. One of my student justified that he would vote for Manny Villar so that "at least" Las Pinas, where Villar had been elected representative to the congress, could be better, and whatever he had done there could also be done in the Philippines. I retorted, Villar had been a representative, and was a senator for several years. With the billions of pesos alloted for his pork barrel, nothing much has improved in Las Pinas except for his subdvisions. Manny Villar is not for the Philippines, but for his own business interest. How could he give house to the homeless, when his business is the housing business. A true philanthropist never takes anything that is not his own, most especially if that is from the poor. Would he be able to house the poor of payatas in his mansion in the US?

Some Filipino voters are still not liberated from applying traditional knowledge, that lacks logical thinking, as to making their decisions for the election. A local axiom says: "Kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga" translated "you'll know the tree from its fruits". The English translation goes beyond the meaning of the Filipino axiom. For a local, the axiom means that children take after their parents. The English version would say otherwise, because it could mean that the fruit is yielded by the tree. Hence, good-rearing of the tree will yield good fruits. This applies to how some voters look at Nonoy Aquino. Even though he has not done much in the lower house or in the senate, some people are drowned into the iconic image of the deceased Former President Cory Aquino, and the late senator martyr Benigno Aquino. These are the parents, but who are the fruits? Kris Aquino who had several affairs, got STD from a partner, and who has been using her popularity to promote the candidacy of Noynoy. Her Brother Nonoy is now 50, single and plays PSP in the senate sessions. How could a Peter Pan who just never wants to grow up lead the country when he was not able to manage his life by his own?

Visionaries are good leaders, but good leaders have focus and consistency to realize their visions. Admirable indeed, Dick Gordon had had great visions for the subic base as a free-port version of HongKong in the Philippines. But, all those dreams are gone, as swift as the Americans fled the Philippines after the Pinatubo eruption. When he was a mayor, was it part of the city ordinance to allow the Filipinas to prostitute themselves for a few dollars in Olongapo? Is it our national duty to service the Americans through prostitutions? Visit Subic, there is just no comparison to HongKong, the bats even have fled because of the disturbance to their natural habitat. This could be the responsibility of the SBMA chair, Gordon used to be one before he became the Tourism secretary and then a senator. Such positions would grant him the means and the power to put through his visions into reality. Visions are like children that one fathers. Leaders don't just conceive visions, then abort or abandon them to the streets.

The hardest laugh one could get is to see an impeached president, thrown over by people power, publicly known plunderer, and eminent womanizer to be up there again running for the presidential seat. Joseph "Erap" Estrada, the action star has turned to be comedian. But, this is the acid test to the intelligence of the voters. He may have been allowed by the Commission on Elections to run, because of legality loopholes. It would be the damnest thing that the Filipino people could do to mock their selves, if they should vote Erap again. There would be no fraud if he wins, for him, or for anyone who will win, because fraud is just for the losers.

There is one presidentiable among the six who have a base of supporters and possible voters. However, this guy seem to be neglected by the President Glore herself, as her party's official candidate. One interesting information a student shared to me, is that Gilbert Teodoro, "will not win", just because he is just a decoy since Macapagal's "manok" was really Manny Villar. But Gilbert Teodoro is the silent warrior. He might be ignored and left out, and so tandemned with movie actor who has lost his flare, but he honorably kept himself through the race. Among all the presidentiables, Gilbert Teodoro's integrity is one that is tainted. He is not just articulate in speech, but his ideals and visions for the country are just what the Filipino needs right now. His educational background is outstanding. He has performed his duties well. He dreams and pursues his dreams, his are realities are not just fantasies. He couldn't even be and should not be compared to Obama, jsut because he is young and promising. But, the truth is all the Philippines need is probably a change of people in the government. With that we can hope for something new if not better.

The Filipino will make a tough decision this May 10, 2010 election. Fraud is a far fethched idea unless the systems have been pretampered. We've always been tried to be conditioned with this. Historically, except for during the Marcos regime, no election fraud had ever been verified in the national election. What we ought to remember in this election is that we can not make mistakes in marking our ballots, or that would make our vote invalid. The reality in this new mechanics of voting, is that we can not make mistake with whom to vote. We need to vote. We need to vote not for the candidate. We need to vote for the Filipino people and for our country's sake.