The Philippines will go to the polls on May 10 to elect a new president at a time when the country has experienced some of its worst years in terms of corruption and instability. Everything seemed to be going relatively well until former actor Joseph Estrada was elected president in 1998. Although he had political experience, first as the mayor of San Juan and then as a senator, his overly relaxed attitude to affairs of state, coupled with greed and corruption, did not bode well for the country.
A massive corruption scandal involving Estrada in 2000 ended with an impeachment trial in the Senate and the Edsa II People’s Power revolt in January 2001 when Estrada was overthrown and Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was installed as president. Although everyone had high hopes for her, Arroyo turned out to be a huge disappointment for many Filipinos. Short-tempered and surrounded by her own groupies intent on making money from her position (remember the Jose Pidal expose that revealed her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo had deposited huge amounts of undeclared wealth into dummy bank accounts?), Arroyo has been unable to tame the growing deficit and rising unemployment.
The May elections will once again present Filipinos with the choice of electing a wildly popular actor to the presidency. Fernando Poe Jr. is leading in all opinion polls with Arroyo, former education secretary Raul Roco, and former Sen. Panfilo Lacson all trailing behind. Many Filipinos fear what an actor with absolutely no political experience to speak of (unlike Estrada) will do to the nation if elected president. Poe has been tightlipped about any of the policies he would implement if elected president and his biggest revelation to date being that he indeed has one love child and possibly more in his closet.
Despite being the best friend of Estrada, Poe still manages to garner a large following among less educated Filipinos, perhaps because of their perceptions of his being the ultimate “nonpolitician”. Most Filipinos are fed up with traditional politicians who promise the earth and deliver little to a clamoring public. Arroyo is perhaps the best example of this, always posing for photographers with crime victims, and actively encouraging more Filipinos to seek jobs abroad because the government cannot create enough at home.
For this next election Filipinos will have to choose between an actor whom many doubt will be able to remain uncorrupted once elected; a former top cop, Lacson, who hasn’t been able to shake allegations of condoning the extra-judicial execution of criminals; a president who is viewed as opportunistic and untrustworthy, and a charismatic yet underfunded former senator who is perhaps too clean for a country rife with corruption.
