Waiting for a President

As of writing, the House of Representatives have 188 signatures attached to an impeachment complaint against SC Chief Justice Corona, enough to send it straight to the Senate for trial. Without a doubt, the performance of this court has been dubious – from flip-flops on decisions that were supposedly ruled with finality, to the coddling of a justice guilty of plagiarism. It has been a source of uncertainty and shame rather than the independent and unshakable body, the final arbiter of law, which it ought to be. Moreover, I also think that it is the executive department’s right, its duty in fact, to vigorously push forward on its mandate to bring closure to the anomalies of the past administration.

A clash between the executive and judiciary branches of government is by no means unheard of. Franklin D. Roosevelt unsuccessfully tried to stack the US Supreme Court with his appointees after it struck down many of his administration’s New Deal initiatives. Although both chose similar solutions, what FDR faced and what our President has to overcome are worlds apart. The New Deal programs were designed to create sweeping reforms in the economic and financial systems of the US. What our President is trying to secure is a conviction, not a reform agenda.

In fact, his administration’s actions over the past few days have called into question if our President has the strategic mind, commitment, and capacity to play the long game and carryout what his campaign promised to do.

The 15-member Supreme Court currently has three Aquino appointees. With a conviction for Chief Justice Corona and with another case versus Justice Mariano del Castillo for the plagiarism scandal he’s entangled in the works, that could bring the number up to five – far short needed for a favorable decision. Perhaps the President hopes that the threat of impeachment proceedings and a new Chief Justice will be enough to sway votes his way. That maybe good enough for the cases facing us now, but in 20 years, when the names Arroyo, Corona, and even Aquino have disappeared from the headlines, would we really like to have set a precedent and have a Supreme Court that is susceptible to outside pressure?

It’s also difficult to see how having the Chief Justice out of the way and Gloria behind bars will radically change the trajectory of our country. In fact, haven’t we seen this drama play out already before? An impeachment trial, a former president under hospital arrest – it breaks my heart that we’re still fighting the same battles. And regardless of how this show plays out this time, the fact will remain that politicians will still be politicians. Congressmen will still funnel pet projects to their favorite contractors, mayors will still ask for kickbacks in exchange for permits, and councilors will, well who the hell knows what they do?

This is not to say that the President shouldn’t do what he’s currently set out on doing. The nation was wronged, our laws were broken, and our institutions left in shambles. But the problem didn’t start with Gloria, and the ultimate solution won’t be found in her conviction. Now imagine if our President uses the same energy he has shown with this matter into putting the full support of his office behind empowering the Ombudsman. Or if his administration, making use of the tools of the information age, develops a system of reporting and whistle blowing, and he leverages his enormous popularity into promoting public participation. That would be a sight to behold. That would be the President I’ve been waiting for.

We Don't Need Heroes

We Filipinos are good with grand gestures. People power revolutions - count us there. Street protests with burning effigies. Sure, why not? Sweeping change elections – you got our vote. Devastation from a once in a lifetime storm. Take our groceries and old clothes too. Another movement for clean and good governance? Hand us the bumper sticker and we’ll gladly slap it on the back of our cars. But once history is achieved and the heroics are demonstrated, we head back to the comfort of our routine and find that nothing really changed much.

Great nations and just societies, however, aren’t built with broad strokes. Rome – kill me now for saying this – wasn’t built in a day. They grew their empire, not on the backs of majestic undertakings like the Colosseum, but through the vast road network they quietly laid down, one stone at a time.

All of us Filipinos can choose to be part of all the momentous occasions that will alter the flow our country’s history, but we can also choose to see that each ordinary day is an opportunity to do so, and that there is also longevity and power in incremental change.

It’s a choice that confronts us every time we dutifully hold on to that piece of trash until a bin becomes available, or when we resist the urge to cut through a traffic jam by counter flowing. It’s a choice that is validated every time a persevering office worker earns a raise and brings home more to his family, or whenever a driven entrepreneur expands and creates more job opportunities in her business, or when a head honcho decides to declare his taxes in full. We don’t have to work in the government or an NGO, nor do we have to perform some extraordinary act of personal sacrifice to be part of moving this country forward.

We are Filipinos – we’ve already proven we can be heroes. Now is the time we each lay a stone and be nation-builders.

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Just in case you missed it, half of the reason we all enjoyed a long break last week was to commemorate National Heroes' Day. So here’s a belated salute to those who were in Pugad Lawin, and to the rest of those who came before and after them and rose to the challenge of their generation. May we have the courage to do the same. 

The Price of Art

"In an atmosphere of liberty, artists and patrons are free to think the unthinkable and create the audacious; they are free to make both horrendous mistakes and glorious celebrations."

Ronald Reagan 

Photo by Erik de Castro / Reuters

I want the government to support the arts, whether through endowments or through securing the physical and artistic space it needs to flourish. But I also understand that it’s inherently counterintuitive to expect government support while wanting to keep politicians from being the arbiters of what is and isn’t art.  If you want to dip into the government’s kitty, you’ll be damn sure they’ll have something to say about it.

It has the makings of a perfectly dysfunctional relationship. On one hand you have politicians, who as such, will almost certainly align themselves with the conventional and popular. Art, on the other hand, is the temple of the dissenter. It will always manage to offend. It’s an inevitable cultural flashpoint.

Of course, it never hurts to aspire for the ideal. Someday our leaders will have the courage to admit that they’re in no position to say what’s artistically acceptable. In fact, no one is. People will be able to look at a piece of work and think, “This is offensive. I hate it,” and move on knowing that it’s the price we pay. On that day, our conservative society will have come to grips with the fact that in a liberal democracy we won’t always like what we see and hear.

Until then, strap in your immoral-RH bill-loving-divorce-hugging ass for a grueling ride. Because art will continue to provoke. And it will inspire. It will push boundaries. It will introduce new ideas and it will reinvent old ones. It won’t always be comfortable and pretty, but in the end we’ll be better for it.

Calling the Kettle Black

While working on iVote.ph in 2007, former senator Zubiri was one of the few candidates we encountered who had a clear legislative agenda. We were finding it difficult to contact the different campaigns and get their candidate’s platforms and stands on issues, so we had to go directly to some of the headquarters. His was one of the few that had that information ready. It was comprehensive, thought out, and wasn’t reduced to a vomit-inducing collection of platitudes arranged in a banal mnemonic device. “J-O-B-S” – cue eye roll. I ended up voting for him on those merits.

I have mixed feeling over his resignation today. I don't know if he was willingly involved in the manipulation, or if he knew his votes were being padded for him, or if he simply turned a blind eye to feign ignorance. Regrettably, the only thing the cynic inside me knows for sure of is that everyone, in one way or another cheats, or as they like to put it, “protects their votes.” No side is completely free of guilt. The sooner we accept that, the faster we get to move on to fixing the problem.

Part of me knows that one day we’ll have to draw the line and start holding our officials on a higher ethical standard. As much as I’d like today be that day, the only thing we’ve gained is an empty senate chair. Not a victory for accountability and truth but just another roll of the dice in a game of snakes and ladders. Votes were padded and shaved, that much is certain. But with elections predisposed to rigging by all sides, we’re no closer to the truth that really matters – who won.

I don’t mean to defend anyone involved in election fraud, but it does us no good to be selective with our indignation. The danger is that we’re helping politicians reduce electoral protests into a game of gotcha – losing candidates clutching on to any shred of evidence of a crime they’re probably guilty of themselves, and amplifying it to cast as much doubt a possible on the accuracy of the results. It becomes all about the theatrics – perception over verifiable data.

What we have is a compromised electoral system. It taints all those who choose to participate, even those with the cleanest of intentions. While we’re preoccupied with the spectacle of today’s dramatic yet inconsequential events, we ought to be looking at how to make the system work. Last year’s election wasn’t perfect, with some facets needing an overhaul. Electoral reform doesn’t end with automation. We need to have a broader discussion that includes strengthening of our party system, campaign finance, and a whole host of issues that affect how we select our representatives. Then again, that’s a whole other entry in itself.