Better Political Parties, Not More Impeachment
Written on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm | by cocoyWhy do our People have such a profound distaste for Power? And while those who can exercise it, simply have no idea on how to use it? Take this move by Jose “Joey” de Venecia III who intend to file new impeachment charges against Mrs. Arroyo.
Don’t get me wrong.
I’d love nothing more than the President getting her day in court. I’d like to see bullet-proof charges presented that would send her and her family to jail but given the lack of numbers, given the current global challenges and the opportunity such upheaval can do, is a tactical move (a play for impeachment) that important as opposed to taking the greater strategic gain?
Why are we not talking about how to best leverage these opportunities?
With the risk of sounding like an arrogant elitist bastard, the regular Filipino who works at the market, who sells fish, who uses the sidewalk as a place of business, they don’t understand. We can’t expect them to. Specifically they’ve no idea of what possibilities there are. They’ve never ridden an elevator to the 30th floor of a skyscraper. They don’t know a thing about microwaves or the differences of a blue-ray or dvd or what an iPod is. They don’t know crap about Starbucks, or Figaro’s. They’ve no idea what derivatives are or what huge shit the world has dug itself into with the credit crisis. For many of our countrymen, PHP2,000 is a lot of money. This is the kind of people our politicians and the media and often we bloggers talk down to. Not because we intend it— but often, something gets lost in the translation from what we know to regular Juan talk.
There is a gulf separating our people. It is a difference that is similar to the digerati and everyone else.
Our politics is such a mess simply because it is closed. It is exclusive to the rich, to the powerful, to political scion, to the connected, to the famous. And none of them are nominated by members of their party. There is no vetting process, no identifying who is the best of the best. There is no party. In the end, the election is the first and last hurdle these people have to surpass to win.
The intention of creating a multi-party system and even a party-list system has done the opposite of liberating. Our multi-party setup has created a landscape wherein campaign finance is unregulated. It has allowed the lobbyists— party lists to be legislators. It has incapacitated our politics simply because politicians have “gamed” the system. Our politics has become a place of business not dissimilar to having barons and dukes ruling their own personal fiefs. This is why when we look at the slate of candidates, we shudder and say, “that’s it?”
Our political parties are stagnant simply because of the limited selection.
In Comic Books, when the Challenge is greater than even for one hero or a Superman or a Batman or a Wonder Woman to resolve, they call on the Justice League. That’s why they team up. Every child knows this.
In real life that’s why even nation-states band together. When even the toughest of challenges can’t be resolved by one man, then a team is what they form. Why can’t we build better political parties that are inclusive? Political parties should have janitors, vendors, as much as it should have people who work in Makati. It should have everybody. It get new blood from that pool. It should have that gene pool.
People are always saying what’s wrong with our system. Instead of wasting precious money, time and energy on impeachment campaigns, why don’t our people waste time building our future? At this juncture, the world is at a crisis point. We can leverage this. We can come out of this better— leap ahead. The differences in perspective from the humble janitor to the secretary to the most powerful business leader is necessary to achieve such unimaginable goal.
Be inclusive.
My last post, I asked, Can the Future Be Designed? The American computer scientist Alan Kay remarked back in the early 70s, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”. It is true for science, it is true for nation-states. Fixing our politics starts when it becomes inclusive rather than exclusive.
Tags: GMA impeachment, political parties- Are you for… impeaching Arroyo?
- We’re All Socialists Now?!
- Where the Wind Blows
- Now Showing: The Impeachment Moro-Moro
- Will New Impeachment Case VS GMA Fly?
- Our Tito-Vic-and-Joey regard for “politics”
- Minutes of the Justice Committee Hearing on GMA Impeachment
- What to do with Arroyo after 2010?
- Because We Can
- An Alternative Representation
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The underlying rationale may have changed over time but, for you, the course of action is the still Let’s Move On.
This is what has allowed Gloria Arroyo to continue with her crimes and further corrupt our institutions (Congress, the Military, the Supreme Court) because as i said before, her illegitimate stay in Malacanang is itself a continuing crime.
cvj, if everybody who is opposed to PGMA got together, built a real deal political party, won an election and formed a government *then* instituted the reforms everyone seem hell bent in saying WE need, wouldn’t that be a better country than simply saying full of righteous indignation that gma is evil?
If such a government exited, then it can investigate arroyo. it will have that leverage. prosecute her to the fullest extent of the law. isn’t that justice for our people and fair enough for mrs. arroyo?
Why can’t people see that?
the situation is not suited for a multi-party system. the squabble for power amongst our would-be leaders (who we are hoping can bring about good for the country) continues to dampen the possibility of quality leadership.
we’ve seen it happen before.
[…] dangerously diverging from the economic headlines. Impeachment season is once more, upon us, and observers like Cocoy are upset that politics is taking center stage: Don’t get me […]
[…] dangerously diverging from the economic headlines. Impeachment season is once more, upon us, and observers like Cocoy are upset that politics is taking center stage: Don’t get me wrong. I’d love nothing more than the President getting her day in court. I’d […]
cvj, if everybody who is opposed to PGMA got together, built a real deal political party, won an election and formed a government *then* instituted the reforms everyone seem hell bent in saying WE need, wouldn’t that be a better country than simply saying full of righteous indignation that gma is evil? - Cocoy
I think you’re confusing the issue of governance with that of legitimacy. People join or form political parties and participate in elections for the chance of governing. That’s *not* what i’m interested in which is why forming parties and winning elections is beside the point. Rather, the issue i have with Gloria Arroyo has been her lack of legitimacy, which is a separate but no less important matter.
sorry, the first paragraph above (at 5:09 pm) should have been in blockquotes.
After my short stint (so far) working in the halls of Congress - I believe party-lists are the future. Akbayan is most representative of my own political ideals. While Ang Kapatiran is pro-life, they are progressive in other issues such as agrarian reform and debt management. Gabriela and Bayan are too…iffy for my taste, but I am glad they are there. They are solid representation that the State is no longer dominated by the few entrenched elites.
Congress is open to lobbying by civil society organisations.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that committee hearings are open to NGOs. They’re even invited to submit position papers and participate in technical working groups to draft policy initiatives. These groups are deeply immersed in communities.
CSOs are gearing up for 2010. My own group is ambitious in co-opting willing politicians to talk about the issues we are advocating during the election campaign.
Imagine that. An election about issues.
If I were you, I would start shopping for a movement to support as early as now. Think of an issue you feel strongly about. Do your research. See if these groups/associations have an agenda for the elections.
Trust me. Its fun.
What had allowed GMA to continue were the half-baked investigations…more of papogi on the part of the solons and senators…whistleblowers who would whistle to a different direction…no hard evidences to support the allegations which hit the press before the accusationsweresubstantiated by hard facts.
Enough of this teleserye. De Venecia leading the impeachment. Spare me.
cvj, no i did not confuse governance w/legitimacy. if we did that, we might as well question who won in previous elections. you can’t put spilled milk back in the glass. we can’t undo the past. we can however make sure it doesn’t happen again. we can make sure we get better leaders.
sparks, i will keep an open mind about party list. i’ve always voted for party lists even though i think it is a mistake.
i prefer them to expand their horizons. not just in congress but across the strata of government.
The Ca T,
indeed.
pen,
yep, yep.
Cocoy (at 7:14 pm), we cannot undo the past but we can confront it. The consequences of Gloria Arroyo’s cheating is not in the past. It is still with us in the here and now and will stay with us until at least 2010, if not beyond. By not resolving the issue of Gloria Arroyo’s cheating, we have sent a signal to presidential candidates that there is an incentive for them to cheat because they can get away with it. In terms of cost-benefit, the worse that can happen to them is that they will face charges after they step down, which also sends the signal that they should hold on to power for as long as possible.
via MLQ3
Exactly. We have the same problem as the global economy. there is no trust. Trust has been broken between politicians and electorate. For far too long the electorate had hope our politicians would do a good job. For far too long that trust has been squandered. and here we are.
cvj,
i admire your idealism. i really do. and any other day and in any other country you are right. have you ever had to look at this country from behind the scenes? have you ever had to be part of the system that had to compromise? how easy it is for those in power to do… well, just about anything?
and for the same exact reason why no one wants another people power is that that road has been squandered. so here we are.
the apathy is so strong, you could almost taste it. (see my reply to mlq3’s post)
we’re not inherently power hungry as a people. most of us hate the thought of an elected position. a lot of us are good people. and you know what? that’s a problem too. how do we get good people to run for public office to enact the change YOU and ME and every other Filipino is clamoring for?
Gloria Arroyo might be illegitimate in your eyes and in the eyes of many Filipino but if this country must stand for something, it must stand for law— however imperfect it is. Life isn’t black and white, lots of it is shades of gray. If a law is evil, then change it. How do we change it? be part of that system and fight from the inside. *That’s my point*.
Congress is open to lobbying by civil society organisations.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that committee hearings are open to NGOs. They’re even invited to submit position papers and participate in technical working groups to draft policy initiatives. These groups are deeply immersed in communities.
Sparks,
Kung sila sila lang di patalsikan na lang ng laway.
Ako din nagka exposure ng konti sa senado at sa mga ibang commitee hearings.
Even publicly available staistics,they have to get it from NGOs,even with the presence of consultants and researches,better to get it from the PHDS.
Party lists must first be defined properly, are they for the marginalized or what? nagka issue dati si Richard Gomez dahil ang MAD ay di naman para sa marginalized.
Manolo,opened up a discussion for rendering political parties obsolete and CVJ cited your idea to me, so here I am.
karl,
imho, political parties have been obsolete in the Philippines for over a decade. what passes for political parties in country is just name. no one outside the political elite votes for them. we don’t even know how they finance operations. or what they stand for. *each* candidate, especially senators up are a party on their own. Heck, they backstab their own “party mates” during elections.
that has to change. Filipinos need to be greater involve in political parties. Ordinary Filipinos need to be part of politics to a greater degree instead of grumbling nightly when the evening news comes out. real parties, i think is part of the solution that this country needs to move forward.
cvj,
Here cocoy is presenting a potential solution to the problem and all you can bitch about is blaming us for the existence of the problem in the first place.
It’s like a fire started and instead of dousing it with water you’re hitting the kid who knocked the candle over to the curtains.
Stop it already. We need actions, not your bitching.
Jon, going by your ‘kid knocking over the candle analogy’, Cocoy is like the kid dreaming of building a new house while the current one is still burning. First things first, let put out the fire in the current house so that the new house we would like to build won’t catch fire.
cvj,
i’ll take that as a compliment. i like being (at least) one step ahead of everybody else.
kidding aside now that… burning house analogy jon and cvj, why does it remind me of “some men just want to see the world burn.”?
Cocoy, unfortunately that’s not the case. Every well meaning reformer has come up with such ideas earlier. Precisely the problem is that they became so enamored with their role as white knights that they developed a sense of entitlement for power, even if it is illegitimately acquired. I bet you that a lot of otherwise decent reformist/Civil Society-types who have stuck it out with the Arroyo admin have this mindset. They allowed themselves to be used by the illegitimate Arroyo government because they see it as their vehicle for pursuing their programs. I don’t want our batch to repeat the cycle.
well i prefer to be the dark knight than the white knight… *wink wink* batman is WAY cooler than two face.
seriously now…
if we thought that way then it would be like curling up in a corner in a fetal position crying and waiting for mummy and daddy. there wouldn’t be any change in the world. If nobody dared to do anything, what’s the point of living at all?
Our people live in fear thinking like that. SO fraking afraid to break an egg. SO afraid to make a mistake. In Science, even a mistake or a negative answer is a response worth knowing. NOTHING gets built without first making a mistake. IF our people kept thinking like that this country will never amount to anything. We’d let our fears get the better of us.
For as long as our people let their fears and let others dictate their destiny, this country will never prosper.
It isn’t hope this country needs. It is courage. Courage to step out and do things.
It turns out that Two-face is more in keeping with the character of the Philippine (and the Bangkok) Middle Class.
I’m not asking you to curl up in a corner. I’m just saying that you to attend to unfinished business and not to pretend that you’re starting with a clean slate.
[above should read],’…that you need to attend…’
And here comes CVJ barking on the middle class again. Woof woof. C’mon man, we’ve heard that before, haven’t we?
Besides, what gives you the idea that nobody in the middle class is doing anything? Harry Roque is a middle class lawyer living 5 blocks down the same street as mine. Oliver Lozano, the lunatic that he is, is just as “middle” as you can get. Obviously JDV Jr. is certainly not middle class(and is, essentially, utterly politically motivated) but who are representing the masses anyway? Can you call the late Crispin Beltran “masa”? Hell no — he was a teacher, not a laborer. The same with Satur Ocampo, who was a journalist before he became a militant laborer. Sison is actually a heredero of a rich farming family. The leaders of the partylist groups that oppose Arroyo have themselves enjoyed middle-class upbringing and educations.
So no, I still don’t understand the continuous middle class bitching from the comforts of your Singaporean quarters. It’s unnerving.
I already responded to Cocoy’s post in my blog but for the sake of productive discussion, let me ask:
1. instead of exotic proposals, what are simple, concrete potentially-game changing (but not so game changing it panics people to fleeing the country) reforms we could make? I’ve listed the ones I think would change things. Run-off elections or a return to the old two-party system. Bloc voting (incidentally, something you can do simply through legislation). Etc.
2. Regardless of partisan lines, what can we do to push forward the creation of a reform constituency prepared to put up a stiff fight with the traditional types in both the ruling and opposition coalitions?
Re: CJV’s comment. If I were going to twit Cocoy further I’d say he’s asking the slumlords to invest in termite control in their own tenements.
we’re just dreaming if we rely on the partylist system or create our own political party to fight those giants. as early as now, forget it. si salonga nga di umubra and he’s already a member of a “trapo” party, that is the Liberal Party, and he was still clubbered by the real trapos.
it would be a waste of time and energy to even think of this option. Return to a two-party system? Well, two party systems encourage autocracies and it increases the number of plutocrats.
even the creation of a “reform constituency” will not work, without any unifying element. what will unify them? anti-graft and corruption stand? anti-trapo?
mlq3:
1. block voting would be interesting.
2. come election day, vote if you think the candidate is good. don’t compromise. if no one fits the bill then simply abstain. but everyone should vote.
what happens when no one gets a clear mandate?
pat:
i don’t think going back to a two party is good. i have my reservations on the partylist system. i will keep an open mind about them but my first instinct is that it is a system mostly covered by lobbyists.
i’ll be the first to admit though having better political parties isn’t exactly a walk in the park. it isn’t very simple to do. i’m starting to lean on the idea that maybe it really is time for a convention. maybe this republic needs to be reborn from scratch. that in itself isn’t easy.
i don’t think it will ever be as simple as building a constituency. our people needs a sign of good faith to believe, imho. that, i think will spur them from apathy.
what do you guys think?
oh and while we’re at this… Jon Taplin has a post “we’re all socialists now”
In the spirit of all this… maybe we should just have one party. after all our messy multi-party system *is* a de facto single party anyway albeit with many different factions since there is no distinction between any of ‘em.
[…] has this got to do with Better Political Parties, Not Impeachment? Is it time to throw in the towel and join the global band wagon? Perhaps, this is all part of the […]
I have to refer to wikipedia to know what runoff voting means:
Runoff voting can refer to:
* Two-round system - a voting system used to elect a single winner, whereby only two candidates from the first round continue to the second round
* Instant-runoff voting - an electoral system whereby voters rank the candidates in order of preference
* Exhaustive ballot - a voting system whereby rounds of voting continue (with or without elimination) until one candidate achieves a majority. Also called repeated balloting
Now that I know: having more than one round is too many for me.
On the instant type,where you have to rank all the choices;what would be the difference if you write only one name and then you tally them.
Same end results,same difference.
That is just me.
karl, we wouldn’t need a run off if there was a legit political party. look at the GOP and Democratic Party. They’ve been trimmed down a lot. That serves as their run up.
but a run off in any case will be a good idea for the country.
cocoy, bloc voting has its problems of course, chief among which is it strengthens the advantages of the organized, chief among whom would be whichever party is in power. but in terms of the senate, the alternative is celebrity politics instead of party machine politics. same for the presidency, a majoritarian institution to which has been grafted the multi-party system where victory goes not to the one who can build a majority, but instead the winning plurality.
i do believe that the rules can aid or hinder good governance or at least, governance that isn’t doomed to be bogged down from the start. as far as this point goes, i sympathize with the president’s supporters who point out she didn’t have a fighting chance and really, no president under the present charter has had a fighting chance to govern effectively. what i dispute are the proposals put forward to fix things, usually coming from the unelectable who would rather pursue exotic solutions because they can’t accept the political culture we have. for example, good luck ever succesfully proposing a system where the national electorate doesn’t directly elect the head of government.
a run off ensure that however many candidates start out, only two have a showdown and necessarily this means one will have a majority. the importance of a majority mandate is something obvious to leaders ranging from de gaulle to our past presidents. we are a majoritarian culture, we respect those who have numbers and are truculent when faced with those with a minority basis of support.
the other way of course is restoring the two party system, since there are ever only two parties: those in power, those who aren’t (and a third party but outside the system are those in the hills trying to replace the entire system). again this limits those who can run and the choices of the electorate. which has good and bad sides to it.
then again if you do not take the path of reform, which assumes there is much that is valuable and meritorious in our political past and how we’ve developed, then the option left is a clean sweep. in which case as lenin said there’s no way to make an omelet without breaking eggs. but i can’t see myself being enthusiastic over people who view other people as omelets. it leads to pol pot.
the problem with “run-off” electoral system is that it will not only be more costly (a duplicative nationwide election between the “finalists” after a no-holds-barred winnowing process among many), but, more importantly, it will foster the same personality politics that we currently have where even an “idiot”, popularly perceived as hero or messiah, could get elected.
a 2-party system (in the true sense) defined by real platforms, visions and a concrete blueprint for governance at least provides for a CHOICE vital to himself, his country and his people. it’s time our electorate be given an opportunity to use its collective wisdom to choose leaders that are committed to a definitive programs that have been presented, disclosed to, and analyzed by, the electorate beforehand, for its acceptance or rejection. let all candidates live or die through the issues that they espouse, not the size of their wallet, demagoguery or bubble popularity.
cocoy, again, it’s no use arguing with this cvj. just let him wallow in his own world of presumptuosness. his verdict of “cheating” is his alone, except for a relatively few who, like him, don’t believe in the wisdom of the prcocess of truth-seeking. and this, in large part, is the reason why gma is still the SITTING president.
Nice piece, Cocoy.
I don’t know how this is going to sound, but… we tried turning the Liberal Party into something like a “real” political party.
I know many would contest what we accomplished, particularly during the “Liberal Family” years, roughly 2002 - 2004, but I think the best proof that we could present that what we were doing was WORKING were all those emails and even snail mail of ordinary people asking how to join the Party and be part of what we were doing.
It CAN be done, reforming our political parties into something “real” and relevant. Because I’ve seen it happening. God knows where the LP would be now if only… *sigh*
Like I said in MLQ3’s blog, Garci SUCKS.
Anyway. Yeah, I agree: Akbayan, for all its faults, seems to be a good template for an effective partylist organization. I’ve worked with them before, back in college, and I was more or less satisfied with what they and we did together, particularly with the Pandayan people.
Personally, I believe that organized political groups are needed to help deal with the malaise that’s turned our political sphere into a walking, stinking corpse.
As to whether effective political parties can still be created after Garci…*sigh*
The disillusionment is almost drowning.
Sparks. DJB. thanks for the reference to Karl Polanyi and Susan Strange.
sparks. i knew you would snicker. hehe.
seriously now, i disagree that politics and economics should be integrated. planned economies i think is the wrong way to go, even given the current market condition. i think it puts a constraint where none should. The longer banks are nationalized globally, the worst things will be. stabilizing the market is one thing. Keeping it going is another.
I think it is akin to having a patient in the ICU.
I don’t think economics can be put as simply as Strange and Polanyi expressed. even the best of us can be wrong. Einstein was wrong: God does play dice. Or at least that is common wisdom which we’ve learned from quantum mechanics thus far. As with many things in science, tomorrow could be a different kind of universe. A probabilistic universe seem to be the right one as far as our knowledge goes.
The crisis we are in will be studied generously for years to come. Its source, its consequences. It will shape economic policy for years to come.
Sun Tzu, in his Art of War emphasized logistics in winning a battle. Economics is the fuel that drives human achievement but it is politics that point where its focus should be. There is no doubt that underneath it all, there seems to be a search for a different kind of political philosophy, one that puts human achievement first. Perhaps this will be driven by a different kind of economics, less as an end but more of a means to an end.
Marion Fourcade-Gourinchas wrote this here.
[…] opinion on the matter is better political parties, not impeachment, but I’d like to ask you if you are for impeaching Arroyo. Why are you for or against it? Do […]
[…] In and out of the web, I’ve talked informally with family and friends. Asking and testing what they think about our time. I know it is far from a scientific sampling. In my most recent post, I also asked if you are in favor of impeaching Arroyo. […]
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