Politics is (Un)Fair to those who Pretend to be Good

YESTERDAY, TODAY & TOMORROW
Linggoy Alcuaz
10/17-19/2011





If Politics is Unfair to the Good, is it then Fair to those Who pretend to be Good? This is my take on the Ronald Llamas brouhaha. More than a year ago, I wrote a column entitled, “In politics, it’s harder for the good boys.” May I quote a couple of paragraphs from that column:

“There is an inherent injustice in politics. When you are a good boy, your campaign is a crusade. Your basic colour is white. When you win and come to power, a lot is expected from you. When you commit a mistake, it is like mud being thrown at you. Black stands out against a white background.

“When you are a bad boy, your campaign is “bola bola”. Your basic colour is black. When you win and come to power, little is expected from you. When you commit a mistake, it is not noticed. It is like black paint being painted on a black background. No matter how much black paint or mud is thrown at you, your appearance does not change.”

I arrived at the above conclusions based on my almost six decades of observing and participating in Philippine and World Politics. I was then referring to the likes of Raul S. Manglapus, Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Cory C. Aquino, Joey Lina, Jun Simon and Noynoy Aquino.

My vantage points for my observing politics and my points of entry for participating in politics were:

1. From 1953 – 1972, under the 1935 Constitution with its Two Party Presidential Form of Government, the Third Force or Reformist Block.;

2. From 1972 – 1986, under Martial Law and Marcos’s 1973 Constitution, the Opposition against Marcos and Martial Law with Ninoy Aquino, Raul Manglapus, Nene Pimentel, Jose W. Diokno and Lorenzo Tanada as leaders;

3. From 1986 – 1989 and again from 2001 – 2004, under the 1987 Cory Constitution with its Multiparty but still Presidential Form of Government, after both EDSA’s I and II, as an official in the Aquino and GMA Administrations;

4. From 1989 – 2001 and 2004 – 2011, outside of the incumbent Administration, majority of the time in the Opposition and aligned with Popular Political Leaders like Miriam, Erap, GMA, FPJ, Erap, Noynoy and Erap again.

Although the term “Third Force” was popular in the fifties and the sixties, it fell into disuse during the Martial Law years. It evolved out of the thesis propounded by Manglapus and other reformists that under the two party system, both the Liberal and Nacionalista Parties were the same dog with just different collars or colours.

They did not have real and distinct programs of government. They were both for the socio-economic elite and the status quo. They contested elections for the sake of political power for their own interests. Thus, real change and reform could only come from a “Third Force” that was outside the incestuous Two Party System.

The only problem was that the Two Party System gave the two major parties the advantage of having party inspectors paid by the government in the election precincts. Without its own official inspectors, only party watchers, the third force parties could not win in the 1957, 1959 and 1965 elections.

They only won when they coalesced with the Liberal Party under the United Opposition Party in the 1961 national elections. While the LP’s Macapagal won the Presidency, the PPP/Grand Alliance’s Emmanuel Pelaez won the Vice Presidency. Manglapus and Manuel Manahan won the first two slots for Senator. The alliance with Macapagal and the LP did not last.

Martial Law changed the rules and the balance of political power. The LP was decimated. If they and the Reformists did their fighting against Martial Law and Marcos separately, they did not stand a chance of ever winning. And so Reformists and out of power Tradpols united as the anti-Marcos Opposition.

Martial Law encouraged the Left as well as other non-political activists to grow relative to the political opposition. Martial Law and the long absence of elections caused the LP as well as other politicians to whither. It came to a point when the LP and later Political Organizations composed of former politicians could not make an impact without the cooperation of the non-political organizations and movements.

It is at this point that the term “Cause Oriented” became popular. The assassination of Ninoy at the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983 gave both the cause oriented movements and the opposition parties the opportunity to grow rapidly.

Relative to the Radical Left, which knew how to survive and grow under any circumstances, the so called Democratic Left or Left of Center was perhaps the most benefitted by the death of Ninoy. The revolutionary assumption to power of Cory brought in the most fresh blood into government. These were the Cause Oriented, who once in power so very quickly earned the perception of turning into the Cost Oriented.

Except for Cory herself and a few officials who quickly bowed out of government service, the multitudes of cause oriented reformers became the latest generation of corrupt bureaucrats and traditional politicians.

Cory showed her preference for Non Government Organizations (NGO’s) over political parties. By the end of her term, “Cause Oriented” fell into disuse. The fad of the day was the NGO. Eventually, every Tom, Dick and Harry had an NGO. Up to today, the NGO is still in vogue.

However, in the nineties a new term was imported from abroad – “Civil Society.” At the same time the provisions of the 1987 Constitution regarding representation of marginalized sectors of society was implemented. In the interim, the President could appoint fifty Sectoral Representatives. Eventually, voters at large voted for a Sectoral Party. In turn, its nominee (s) became a Party List Congressman.

PAPA Ronald Llamas belonged to and grew up politically in this world. He belonged to Akbayan, a registered and successful Sectoral Party under our Party List System. Akbayan and its leaders had come out of both the Radical and Moderate Activists of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. To some extent they are a product of the split of the CPP/NPA/NDF into RA and RJ factions. However, they do have a lot of leaders and members who have never been members of the Radical Left.

They were based on the NGO/Civil Society fad of the nineties and had mastered the art of securing foreign funding for various causes. They were anti-trapo. They were loud about their advocacies. Their leaders and party list representatives were high profile including Eta Rosales, Riza Hontiveros and Walden Bello.

Riza ran in Noynoy’s LP Senate Slate and lost as the 13th candidate. Eta was appointed as the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights. Ronald Llamas was an early appointee of the usually slow P Noy as the Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs. Like his boss, he is a gun enthusiast and a “Kabarilan.”

A few months ago, Llamas' name cropped up as one of three pet peeves of P Noy. The other two were Secretaries Leila de Lima and Bertie Lim. Soon after, Secretary Lim resigned. Up to now, a year and a quarter after being appointed Secretary of a very important Department, de Lima’s nomination has not been submitted to the Commission on Appointments.

A couple of weeks ago Llamas' Mitsubishi Montero Sport SUV with a #6 government plate figured in an accident in Q.C. Although Llamas was not aboard, his high powered AK-47 Russian Assault Rifle was under the driver’s seat. While the police were still investigating and under the glare of television cameras, his subordinates spirited away the AK-47 without clearing with the police.

Llamas is the do-gooder now done bad. The media pounced on Llamas without let up for more than a week. That is what we mean by “Politics is Unfair to the Good.” Or can it also be that Politics is Fair to those who Pretend to be Good?