STATEMENT OF DEMOCRACY WATCH PHILIPPINES
We have a deeply-rooted, overwhelming governance problem. What surveys show as the citizen’s waxing and waning relative support for the national leadership has a continuously dark undertone—the people have a generalized distrust of government. This is a view unsurprising as most of those in power are not merely ineffective, they are dysfunctional. They are not merely ineffective as rule enforcers, they are distorting the rules.
Once described as a “corrupt society” in the 1950’s by then budding historian and social critic Renato Constantino, the Philippines continues to be plagued by the irresponsible and corrupt exercise of political power. The net effect: the business sector’s lukewarm attitude towards sustained investing, a civil society undermined and lacking a clear development agenda, and public institutions’ poor track record in service delivery.
In the latest Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, the Philippines ranked 111th out of 180 countries, down from a high of 85th in just four years! Since 2014, underscored by scandal on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel”, among others, the country’s efforts to address corruption has been put to test.
Given the nature of our basic democratic institutional framework in the country, this must be pointed out—that all corrupt governance practices are ultimately rooted in our electoral system. Corruption in preparation for and during elections including vote buying, misuse of public funds, electoral violence, to name a few, reproduce all other forms of malpractices in the socio-political sphere. Electoral corruption is the moldering mother of all other forms of corruption in government.
But then our People continue to hope during elections despite the lack of a solid critical alternative during elections… We may look at May 2019 as just point in the continuing struggle to craft democracy in this country.
Imagine how the seeds of corruption are sown during elections. To make the social soil infertile to such malignant growth, we must advocate program-based and policy-intensive political discourse to test the leadership potential of the candidates.
A real democracy needs pro-active citizens. Citizens who take the elections seriously and the task of selecting leaders with the mien of one who is deeply reflecting on a better future for society.
Let us nurture democracy the way we take care of our real children. Let us nurture the social soil well to make genuine democracy grow. Let us make these elections count.