POLITICS , PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PROMISES

By Samira Gutoc (01-April-2007) source is from http://www.maranao.com

Campaign speeches are now hitting the airwaves and aired in public functions too. Here in Lanao, in weddings where the elites and their angkan converge, politicians maximize their presence and make sure they are heard during the wedding proper. Maranao politics is one of the most colorful – add a 4th to the criteria of guns, goons and gold and you get another element to win – the girls or the women who are the most effective but low-key campaigners of their husband or their boss or whatever their relationship may be. The cost of vote-buying here is appalling – in one suspected town where drug-money flows, mayoralty candidates are supposedly courting voters for at least 250 US dollars per head.

Beside me at the Mamainte-Lucman wedding at Marawi Resort Hotel was MNLF Bangsa Bai and former assemblyman Zenaida Bubong. I ask her if MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari is serious about running for governor of Sulu, where politics is also pre-conditioned and the poor candidate without chance. She confirms Nur did file for candidacy but suspects this is just one of Malacanang’s patronage programs (to appease his followers).

We hear speeches from the candidates or their closest of kin who campaigned for them. Bubong rolls her eyes over the rewind of projections, public relations and promises made by the candidates who had a heyday last Wednesday and Thursday, stopping traffic to parade to the COMELEC office to file their candidacy. Here in the streamer city of the South, the trees are pinned overwhelmingly with smiling faces and names of party-list, senatoriables and consuming more space - the local candidates. In one speech in the wedding, it was refreshing to hear one gubernatorial candidate cite all the names of his closest rivals rather than attack them, as is the usual scenario. But expect a heated exchange between the closest of rivals to begin once the numbers in the surveys roll in. After all, it is a close fight in Lanao del Sur, thus the free zone declaration by Malacanang which means it is hands-off in endorsing just ONE CANDIDATE.

Each gubernatorial candidate here can claim bailiwicks, while having a loyal constituency and machinery to back them . There’s the incumbent governor – Aleem Bashier Manalao whose claim to fame is his charisma as a preacher and cult of women religious followers; Congressman Benasing Macarambon, a former MNLF commander and President’s closest ally here for standing by her in the impeachment trial; Marawi Mayor Omar Solitario Ali, another former MNLF commander, who aggressively gave the city a road system face-lift; and Engr. Mamintal “Bombit” Adiong, son of the former governor, who reportedly has more than 50 % of the votes of Lanao’s 39 mayors during a LAKAS-NUCD meeting in Davao City . May the best man win.

But please oh please, without the COMELEC under-the-table hanky panky, special operations coming in Marawi to make magic in favor of senatorial or party-list candidates, election harassments and killings. Just last month, a brother of a mayoralty candidate, who was vying against his brother was shot allegedly by followers of the brother. In this case, blood is no longer thicker than water. Power is. Bloody dangerous.

The good news is, a vigilant force is striving to drive away the criteria of 4 g’s to another g – good governance . On TV, while obvious politically-funded programs are aired, the discourse is about what is good governance and what the candidate can offer. It was great to see the internal revenue allotment (IRA) being discussed. In a dysfunctional society like this which has no media, public discussion and transparency thus silencing any form of dissent, the space for patronage politics is widened because political families can no longer claim to control the ira alone.

The majority poor have a unique opportunity to say no to vote-buying. Refuse that envelope distributed in kandori masquerading as good-will money. Refuse that envelope in the precinct. Hello, merong kapalit yon noh. What’s 300 pesos or 13,500 in exchange for paralysis of services during a full 3-year term of a mayor or governor ?

How do we combat corruption? The women beside me in the wedding had a strong suggestion – remove the ira., appoint not elect officials . It’s good we are speaking about this at last, without fear of reprisal or threat of harrassment. I hope these voices become louder so that we see a different future constructed ahead of us.