FILIPINOS go to the polls tomorrow in a sweeping general election that will see 17,000 positions filled, from the president and vice president all the way down to mayors and city councilors. Around 100,000 candidates are running, and hundreds of millions of pesos have been spent on campaign posters, TV ads, free giveaways, and the now infamous vote buying.
The Philippines is often described as the most vibrant democracy in Asia, but these days it looks more like a sick country riven by cynicism and partisanship. After the 20 years of Marcos dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s, the country had Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and now Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as presidents. But none have been able to overcome the never-ending problems of the country, from the communist and Muslim insurgencies to widespread poverty and endemic corruption.
Most Filipinos have grown weary of traditional politics and politicians, who have promised heaven and earth but delivered much less. And this is reflected in the electoral rolls: Of the 43 million Filipinos of voting age, only five million have up-to-date voting registrations.
The choices for president are not very good: Arroyo has not been able to do much in the three years she has governed since taking over from Estrada after he was overthrown in January 2001. She is prickly and lacks charisma and, most ominous of all, she has failed to win over the supporters of the disgraced Estrada, a major reason why the country is still so polarized today.
Fernando Poe Jr., the massively popular movie star, lacks any political experience, and is marketing himself as the ultimate non-politician: Free from corruption and owing no one favors. He has no electoral platform, saying only that he will fight corruption. The electorate is being asked to take his bid for the presidency on faith alone, and many voters will probably agree to do so.
The latest polls have shown Arroyo leading by around 5-7 percentage points, with Poe in second place. But cheating at the polls remains the main danger on May 10. Already a group of 18 colonels and generals met with Catholic Church leaders to warn them that they were being ordered to cheat to ensure that Arroyo wins, and that they were forced to follow the orders or face an end to their careers. National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, for his part, claims that the opposition is already plotting to claim the election was stolen and instigate a military coup.
Whoever wins on Monday will have the unenviable task of trying to bring together all Filipinos so that the country can begin healing and move forward. The only consolation is that elections are being held at all. Life under a military dictatorship would certainly be more stable, but it would not be nearly so interesting.
