“Elections provide a cycle of corruption which is the root of the problems we now have”
I HAVE been asking myself this question: Considering that taipans and tycoons have been making billions of pesos for their conglomerates, would they make good presidents of the Philippines, Santa Banana?
I doubt it since the country has endemic problems like poverty, corruption, domestic and foreign affairs problems, among others.
For one thing, taipans and tycoons are accountable only to their investors, and not to the people, like the Philippines with its over 116 million people.
Yes, taipans and tycoons are accountable to their thousands of employees and to their board of directors, but not the Filipino people as a whole.
Most importantly, companies and conglomerates do not have elections like what we have which happen every three years. like the midterm elections and the national elections.
Elections have become the stumbling block to a democratic country like the Philippines. This is not however an indictment of democracy, but look at Vietnam, a communist ruled country which has no elections. The progress of Vietnam has been phenomenal.
With all the problems the Philippines is facing, there was a time in the early fifties when the country was only next to Japan. And look at Japan now, Santa Banana!
Speaking of elections, I have to say it, but our problems have multiplied a thousandfold. I am not saying we would be better off if we had a dictator or tyrant, and I am not saying that we would be doing well if the county had a king or queen.
All I am saying is elections provide a cycle of corruption which is the root of the problems we now have.
A study has shown that for a candidate to win , it takes almost P1 billion to run for mayor in a big city, P3 billion to run for senator and at least P5 billion for president.
And where do you think that money comes from? Mostly from contributions from the usual contributors every election.
If you consider all the candidates for mayor in a city in Metro Manila, if it takes that much to be mayor, how do you think the elected mayor will pay back all the contributions he got, and how in the world will he get back his money, if he has that much money to run for mayor?
A candidate for senator isn’t that much different, unless he is a very popular movie actor, a very popular television host or a very popular broadcaster.
And an elected public official would also be thinking about his reelection.
They cannot be forever depending on contributions and donations. Where will they get all the money for that? From corruption, of course.
I am reminded of the case of a very dear and close friend of mine, who was elected congressman, whom I visited often.
One day, I went to his house, and I was surprised when I saw a long line of people waiting for their turn to see my congressman friend.
Naive as I was at the time, I asked why there were so many people lining up and what did they want from him?
He said they were asking for assistance. I asked what kind of assistance they were asking for and he said every kind one could think of, like a burial for a relative, money for a birthday party, uniforms for basketball teams etc etc.
I then asked where he would get the money they were asking for. He simply smiled.
For people in political office, there are a hundred ways and means to make money like kickbacks.
That’s why I say the people are largely responsible for the kind of government we have. Most government people think that being in government is an opportunity to steal.
That’s why there are so many candidates for public office who have no regard for the accountability they have to the people.
That’s why our elections are an endemic problem where the people are largely responsible for the endless cycle of corruption that never ends, Santa Banana! They deserve the people they elect into office.
If the endless cycle of corruption can happen to the election of anybody to public office like a mayor, how much more to higher positions like the Senate and to the presidency, where it would take now at this time billions and billions of pesos to win?
