The news of House Speaker Jose de Venecia’s plan to try to form a national unity government last Thursday (Jan. 2) totally eclipsed the resignation of Secretary of Justice Hernando Perez, which barely registered a blip on the radar screen of a silly Philippine media obsessed with scandal and corruption.

Not that the media thought De Venecia’s proposal was that hot either. Under the plan all political parties would be invited to participate in a national unity government, including the communist rebels and Muslim fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The only problem was that it seemed De Venecia had not explained his entire proposal to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo before blurting it out to the press.

As it turned out, the president had already discussed the possibility of a national unity government at a cabinet meeting. Whether she knew De Venecia would present the idea to the public is open to speculation. “The concept is acceptable, but not as detailed (by De Venecia),” said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye. The president’s reaction was cautious optimism, with a caveat that a national unity government should focus on programs and not on personalities. Other politicians cautioned that having certain elements in an inner circle making policy, while they openly opposed the Philippine state and Constitution, would not be acceptable. In the end the communist National Democratic Front turned down the offer, while the MILF said it was open to the idea.

I hate to sound so cynical, but the timing of everything leads one to wonder at the sequence of events. It seems like the whole Arroyo administration is being led by an advertising agency, the setting of the administration’s every move seemingly charted by expert spin masters who have no qualms at throwing something out if they think it’s not working, be it a person or a policy.

How else to account for Perez being suspended from his job so quickly last December, then being badgered into giving the president his resignation? For the administration trying to cut a deal with Rep. Mark Jimenez for months to get him to testify against his buddy former President Joseph Estrada, then finally allowing him to voluntarily leave for the US where he is now in a Florida jail awaiting a tax evasion trial? For President Arroyo suddenly announcing on Dec. 30 that she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2004?

Executive branches of governments the world over are nowadays beholden to public opinion surveys, and the Arroyo administration is not an exception. Every single little blip in popularity, either up or down, is minutely analyzed by an army of spin masters and public relations consultants, who have no qualm at being cold-blooded and mean as long as they receive their fat consultancy checks.

How else to explain the administration’s performance since it came to power in January 2001 after EDSA II? President Arroyo has claimed to be the president of all Filipinos, and has tried, although not strongly enough in my opinion, to heal a deeply divided nation. It seems that despite the best of her intentions, the president’s strong and many times sarcastic personality has not allowed her to overcome partisan politics.

The truth of the matter is that Philippine politics is still deeply divisive, splitting the nation into the poor and the rich, the powerful and the powerless, the Estrada supporters and the reformers. Mired in low growth, shrinking foreign investment, a ballooning budget deficit and corruption, the president is desperately trying everything in the spin masters’ book to regain some sort of direction and purpose in governance.

But I say listen to the people, not to the spin masters. The public is extremely savvy and is not easily fooled by some new desperate scheme thought up by a hired public relations hack. Good governance consists of more than just PR moves intended as sops to the public. Consistency and determination in following certain policies is highly regarded by a poor public that finds no stability in their daily life of trying to make ends meet in grinding poverty. The president’s willingness to try almost anything to revive her sagging popularity is pulling the whole nation down into confusion and cynicism. A little more level-headedness would do the Philippines a whole world of good.

****

Absentee voting is still a dream

For all of you overseas Filipino workers dreaming of being able to vote in the 2004 elections, at the rate the bicameral conference committee is going at cobbling together a version of the absentee voting bill that is agreeable to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, you may have to unfortunately continue dreaming a while longer!

The major sticking points are whether to allow all Filipinos abroad to vote in Philippine elections, and whom to allow them to vote for. The Senate version of this bill would allow almost anyone of Philippine descent to cast an absentee ballot, while the House version of the bill excludes Filipinos who are permanent residents or immigrants in other countries. The Senate bill allows OFWs to vote for president, vice president, senators and party-list candidates. The House version restricts overseas voting to the president and vice president only.

Why the differences? Who knows, perhaps it has to do with senators being more experienced in politics, which perhaps allows them to be more generous? Many representatives seem bent on being as nasty and ornery as possible. One surprising opponent of the bill has been Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin, Jr., whose long career as a progressive journalist and newspaper publisher, would, you think, make him a natural ally of OFWs and absentee voting. Think again, friends.

I personally don’t believe that Filipinos who have become say US citizens should be allowed to vote in Philippine elections. It’s all a question of divided loyalties. But I do think that Filipinos working abroad should be able to vote for more than just the two top positions in the Philippine government. Why some representatives are trying to limit who OFWs can vote for is not clear, but hopefully they will realize the folly of their fears and allow OFWs their right to vote in Philippine elections.

****

Comments or questions? Email the author at: [email protected] or [email protected]

****

Visit the author’s website at http://www.manilamoods.com to read past columns.

Arab News Opinion 10 January 2003