Skewed 'political capital' idea

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
08/16/2010



""But I would rather be right than popular," said the president," according to a 2007 BBC News report. Earlier in 2004, the San Francisco Gate had this other presidential quote: “I earned capital in this campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.” The first is from Gloria Arroyo justifying her new revenue measures in her State of the Nation Address while the latter is from George “Dubya” Bush pushing the Iraq War.

Last week, the newspaper mouthpiece of the Yellows had “Aquino ready to sacrifice political capital” as its headline on the tollways value-added tax (VAT) wherein it quoted PeNoy’s spokesman saying, “…we’d rather be unpopular because in the long term we know that the value-added tax will be used for the social service we have promised.”

Well, son-of-a-gun. They sought popular support to the hilt during the campaign; but now, after taking power, they sneer at it!

Without a doubt, the “political capital” being bandied about by PeNoy and his sycophants is nothing but a whip to coerce people into accepting new taxes — taxes that he promised would never happen if they gave him their votes. And as most didn’t believe this promise, more than half of Filipino voters didn’t vote for him. Still, the SWS and Pulse Asia whipped up the incredible surveys claiming that PeNoy suddenly got an 88 percent trust rating after his inauguration, which led PeNoy’s people and some other less astute quarters to assume as “political capital.”

Even if that illusion did actually translate to genuine political capital, then it already disappeared as quickly as PeNoy went back on his word of “no new taxes.” This is in keeping with the nose-dive of the once “most popular” Barack Obama’s political capital when Americans discovered that his promised “change” was a sham.

Political capital for any leader is the sum total of the mandate and public esteem he gets from the nation. In the first place, PeNoy was never a “majority president,” the reason his supporters went on to manufacture this “political capital” through their controlled media’s blitzes and popularity surveys before and after the polls. Strangely, many in the opposition, even among the Left, were led to believe such propaganda, which is why, at best there, there’s some modicum of virtual political capital achieved.

The Wikipedia discussion on “political capital” says, “Political capital must be spent to be useful… In addition, it can be wasted, typically by failed attempts to promote unpopular policies that are not central to a politician’s agenda.” Indeed, PeNoy is trying to use his virtual political capital, but for whose benefit? Obviously, not the people’s.

We know that since at least 70 percent of all VAT is prioritized to pay the national debt, it’s obvious that the first beneficiaries of this VAT on toll ways are the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the finance mafia. Although hidden from the political scene, these groups and institutions are very much present in the system as they are the ones that call the shots.

An example of this power is the appointment of the new Supreme Court associate justice whom PeNoy says he doesn’t know personally (of course, since someone else made the decision). Maria Lourdes Aranal-Sereno is from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), a known bastion of Big Business. The Inquirer billed Sereno’s appointment as the “Triumph of intellect over shabby politics.” For sure, since public interests and assets will be threatened by Sereno’s legal opinions, notwithstanding Miriam Santiago’s praises which are laughable, it will be more like the “triumph of vested interests.”

The tollways VAT is obviously not going to benefit the millions of Filipinos who depend on these arteries of travel to and from work, home, business, farm, rest and recreation, and countless other activities. Allocating a bit more to toll fees wouldn’t be much of a problem if the people’s incomes were improving. But with static, if not decreasing, incomes, allocating more for this means taking away a bigger chunk from people’s daily needs.

PeNoy doesn’t know this because he doesn’t have a family to care for, as one of my radio listeners, 17-year-old scholar Angeline, says. Moreover, PeNoy’s staff, Ochoa and company, are known to be high-flying lawyers cum political aides of such alleged public fund profligates as Sonny Belmonte, that they wouldn’t even know the meaning of having to budget one’s monthly income.

The Supreme Court came to PeNoy’s rescue by issuing a TRO on the tollways VAT; but the stupidity of PeNoy’s Malacañang still knows no bounds. Lacierda came out to own up to the pressure, this even after World Bank Revenue girl Kim Henares had already denied PeNoy’s involvement in the issue.

There is no doubt that the brawl over the tollways VAT has already expended much of the virtual political capital of PeNoy. Just listening to the morning radio shows reveals at least a 90 percent rage against PeNoy’s insistence on this new tax (on an existing tax). Now, even the Yellows I talk to fear that PeNoy will be lost in six months’ time.

Maybe PeNoy can crawl back to public acceptance by using this “political capital” to say “No” to the oligarchs, the IMF-WB, the US Embassy, and once and for all say “Yes” to the demands of the people for lower power and water rates, lower toll fees and a better life!

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics (and Economics) Today, Tuesday, 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m. on Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our new blog, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com)