April 04, 2004

The Philippine STAR, Opinion Page

Politics is Addition, 

Not Subtraction

By Babe Romualdez

The late Senate President Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez once said that politics follow only one simple rule: "Politics is addition and not subtraction."  I recall an uncle, former Speaker of the House, Daniel Romualdez who related to us what had happened during the Nacionalista Party's pre-convention intramurals in 1961.  The late Amang was threatening to challenge incumbent President Carlos P. Garcia for the nomination. 

Garcia needed the support of Amang's wing within the party.  Amang demanded concessions before he could commit to supporting Garcia for the nomination.  Garcia conceded and Amang combined his forces with Garcia's for the incumbent to become the 1961 Nacionalista standard bearer.  In spite of the fact that Garcia gallantly rode into defeat, this is a textbook example of politics by addition.

At the rate things are going for the FPJ camp, his men seem to be subtracting instead of adding supporters.  Undoubtedly, FPJ is extremely popular and he may be leading at the polls with a slim margin.  But at the end of the day, it is the standing political rule that will make him president.

When our publisher Max Soliven and I were in Cebu last week, a number of FPJ supporters were complaining about incidents where they were being sidelined by the cordon sanitaire.  It was a literally litany of snubs.  For awhile, even Ed Angara had no access to FPJ.  He couldn't even get the candidate to answer his phone calls.  In fact, a KNP senatorial candidate said, "If this is the way he is today, can you imagine if he becomes president?"

Behind the scenes in Cebu, local politicians in the areas that they visited were complaining that they couldn't even get to shake FPJ's hand.  Without a doubt, they probably ended up wondering why they were supporting the man in the first place.  There was even an incident when a pro-GMA mayor just wanted to pay a courtesy call on FPJ.  All it would have taken was for FPJ to meet him and say, "I know that you're for GMA, but if in case I win I'm sure that I may be able to help you."  But once again, FPJ was prevented from seeing the mayor.  Some fool whispered that FPJ should not see him. With that, they just subtracted the mayor permanently.

Other die-hard FPJ supporters were heard to have grumbled that if FPJ is isolated now, how much more if he ever becomes president.  He will surely be shielded from truth and reality. Believe you me, Malacañang Palace is the perfect place to lose touch with reality.  Former Congressman Mike Romero called me the other day to tell me that the KNP Executive Committee has taken note of the cordon sanitaire situation.  This was apparently prompted by Max's column the other day.  

True, FPJ is not a dyed-in-the-wool politician, but in the heat of political combat, his handlers have to teach him how to think politics, at least, for now until May 10.  The Iloilo incident involving the Channel 7 reporter is a clear example that in politics, one must learn to keep one's cool.  One thing is sure, FPJ just lost a vote from that reporter.

Simply put, FPJ must have a crash course in political instincts.  Otherwise, he will always be at the mercy of his handlers.  Eventually, he will have to draw up to his full height and think on his feet.  The isolation of the presidency caused Thomas Jefferson to describe the office as "a splendid misery."  Harry Truman concluded after a few days in office that "it is lonely at the top because the buck stops here."  But in their cases, they were already in office. They had the privilege, or the curse, of having actually borne the burden of presidential responsibility and isolation to gain those insights.  

FPJ doesn't have those yet.  And he may never have those, if he doesn't learn the rules of political gamesmanship. He may have his own mind, but in Philippine politics, you have to know how to play the game if you want to stay in the race.

This reminds me of Danding Cojuangco's run for the presidency in 1992.  There were many people who actually wanted to join the Cojuangco camp.  But unfortunately, Cojuangco found himself cordoned off by his political strategists Tony Gatmaitan and Butch Valdez.  Two neophytes who were simply textbook operators when it came to the political game of addition.  The story remains the same, though, the storytellers are different.  

At that time, people were afraid of either a Danding Cojuangco or a Miriam Defensor-Santiago presidency.  Even if they weren't for FVR, the bulk of the other candidates' supporters started to migrate towards FVR, whom they saw as the only other choice.  They saw in FVR, the man who would prevent Cojuangco or Santiago from winning.  The same is true today.  There are voters who are migrating to GMA because they are afraid of an FPJ presidency.

In another situation, we see the same thing happening where the people around FPJ don't want Lacson to join their camp.  Despite their candidate leading in the polls, this could spell their defeat with a divided opposition.  This is another classic case of political subtraction.  Hubris—the arrogance and insolence of power before its fall.  In the case of FPJ's handlers, they are not in power yet, but they are already acting as if they are the victors. 

In fact, there are stories going around that they are already dividing the spoils at this early stage.  Some are already planning who gets what instead or focusing on how to win.  This is a classic case of hubris.  The worse thing that any politician can do is to think that he is going to win so easily.  Every candidate must always run scared until the final tabulation comes in. The KNP's cordon sanitaire has that kind of arrogance.

In stark contrast, GMA, who is determined more than ever, visits vote-rich provinces no less than 8 to 10 times.  She is the quintessence of the politics of addition.  She does not hesitate to talk to anyone even barangay captains one-on-one including those that are committed to supporting opposing candidates.  No one can question that she is a hardworking candidate.  She practices the politics of addition to the hilt. 

Max and I witnessed this in Cebu last week for the interview on IMPACT 2004.  And by the way, she gained a lot of points from that interview, especially with Filipinos living in the United States and in the Middle East where it was aired on ABS-CBN's The Filipino Channel.  She exuded total confidence.  To many, her confident performance sealed the nagging question of who is really competent to lead the country.  While FPJ subtracts, GMA continues to add.  GMA has certainly perfected the game of politics by addition. 

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