May 30, 2004

The Philippine STAR, Opinion Page

Back to Reality

By Babe Romualdez

I arrived yesterday from a tiring 15-day trip that took me to Puerto Rico, the United States, Canada, and finally, to Hong Kong for a senior management meeting of our firm.  A lot of things are happening all over the world while here in the Philippines, we're still counting votes. 

In Iraq, the handover is fast approaching with President Bush outlining a broad 5-step plan to shore up flagging support for his Iraq policy.  He is encouraging more international support toward a national election that will bring forward new leaders empowered by the Iraqi people.  Faced with new polls showing only 41 to 47 percent of the American public approving of his performance, Bush is seeking to convince voters that he will seek greater international support for the Iraqi transition and expand the number of foreign troop contributors to the stabilization force.  It seems to me, George Bush is doing it right this time.  

India, with its 1.3 billion population, already has a new Prime Minister-designate.  The largest democracy in the world has 650 million registered voters and with a 50 percent voter turnout that shows us how 325 million people decided their destiny.  The winning party was known two hours after the last ballot was cast because of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).  For a population as large as India's, the EVM was very impressive, which can very well be adopted in the Philippines.  We don't even have to invent anything, we just have to buy the technology.  

What is really remarkable about the recent polls in India is not the huge number of voters or how fast the results were known, but actually the refusal of Sonia Gandhi to become prime minister.  According to some of our Indian associates, this single act of Sonia made the people regard her now as a goddess of some sort.  Explaining that her decision was reached through listening to her "inner voice," Sonia won the respect and admiration of many through her selfless and considerate act. 

In this country, it would be short of a miracle if politicians follow her lead demonstrating that they are willing to make sacrifices for the greater good and willing to go beyond lip service, especially during the campaign period.

Sonia Gandhi handed over the position of prime minister to 71-year-old Manmohan Singh, a former finance minister in Narasimha Rao's government in the 90s and the first Sikh to hold this high position.  She chose a Sikh to become prime minister to show that she does not hold any religious rancor despite the fact that her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by Sikh security guards in 1984.  This is just one dimension to the phenomenon called the Sonia shock factor.  Sonia's Italian origin has been the main issue directed against her by the BJP.  

With the support of her children, Rahul and Priyanka, Sonia's entry into the world of politics has revitalized the Congress Party.  The Gandhis remind many Indians of the Kennedys because both clans had suffered many assassinations or mysterious deaths.  Observers said that the recent Congress Party victory signaled the return of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.  Whatever it is, the Indians are doing it right.

In Hong Kong, the good news from the South China Morning Post is that the Philippines posted a GDP of 6.4 percent, one of the highest in Asia.  But it was later clarified that this was due to election spending.  I might add though that a big portion of the GDP really comes from the agricultural sector.  And for this, I must congratulate our friend Cito Lorenzo, the Secretary of Agriculture.  He has been working hard and actively going around the country quietly raising our agricultural output and using his own resources.  By the way, he has been using the company helicopter, which we time-share with him, and only our Publisher and Chairman Max Soliven has been able to override him in its use.

While in Hong Kong, the questions frequently asked by the international group I met with were: "Who won?" and "Who is your next President?"  It has been almost three weeks since we cast our votes and to me, it seems like a year.  What can I say?  This can really be embarrassing.  And we wonder why we're being left behind by Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka? 

No one else is to blame, but the Comelec and, ultimately, ourselves for allowing this to happen.  All these countries that I have visited are already preparing for a global economic rebound after 9/11 and here we are still counting votes.  Worse, we're still arguing on how we will count it.  What a country!  Asia is emerging as a tiger once again because of the powerhouse economies of China and India, the most populous countries in the world.  The world is really passing us by because of so much political B.S. 

The Comelec's failure to establish an automated voting system has had far-reaching consequences.  Because they didn't do it right from the very beginning, we're now paying back for that stupid mistake.  We would have had credible and quick results instead of the suspense and the rising political temperament we have today.  As the saying goes, "What goes around comes around." 

Look at the vicious cycle of misdeed, conflict, and suffering that we are going through today.  It all boils down to allowing arbitrariness to get the better of us despite the fact that there are standing rules to follow.  We just love to twist rules to suit our purposes without thinking or caring for the heavy consequences that will surely follow.  The "Bahala Na", "Puede Na", and "Quick Fix" solutions and attitudes that we've had for so long are what's causing the miseries we have today.  

If these elections lose credibility and if the people will continue to be divided, the next president will surely have a difficult time, to say the least.  It was bad enough that it was a close fight.  It will be Hell just trying to run this country for the next six years and we will all suffer in the end.  We need to start contemplating on making serious constitutional and economic reforms that this country badly needs and we certainly have to do it right this time.  Failing this, we will once again miss out in riding the economic wave that is expected to crest in Asia within the next five years.  That is the reality we face today.  

#########

Email: babeseyeview@hotmail.com

BACK TO TOP