I was actively involved during the campaign sorties of my mayoralty bet as well as his councilors. Of course, it does include the campaign for the TEAM UNITY of the National Government!
All the while I was expecting a process of change or to have a clean and honest elections, where the real conscience of the people will speak finally after three years of sleep mode. However, in my own observation people is still prune to selling their own rights of suffrage in the amount ranging from 200 pesos to 1,000 pesos!
When I dared to find out why they do so, some of the people of whom I am in close contact with reasoned out that it is poverty that prevented them to exercise freely their right of suffrage. Poverty stuck them out of freedom to choose intelligently. Their ways of life was stagnated by the consistent daily endeavor which they would not dare to ask when to end. At this very time of election, it is their only means to at least rest the day for an easy money. They would not spend a lot of their labors for the day, just for the time being, as if they would just have to enjoy a grand time of vacation from their daily works, either in the farm, at sea, or anywhere else just to find certain amount of money to purchase goods for the daily sustenance of their families.
On the other hand, some of the politicians, scrupulous or unscrupulous, are taking their tool of exploiting the situation and thought that this would be the most lucky days for them to explore and exploit these weaknesses of voters and bring them out in their own favor. They would just have to find somebody to finance their candidacy and spend the money of their would-be donors, or even save it to their own discrete intentions. One of the advantages that they will enjoy is the utilization of the money to attract old and new friends, neighbors, relatives, classmates, confidantes, henchmen, co-workers, colleagues and supporters, and many other calls that they could find in their dictionary and think about people. And look what money can bring! It’s really nice to have money to convert these people to become voters.
Much more significant are the landlords, who are owners of vast tracks of land, who under the influence of certain political stalwarts, can commission their tenants to support their most favored politicians. They can even command their tenants or even former tenants in both nicer or intimadating circumstances available so that their most favored politicians will be able to garner the required votes in order to win the elections! On the part of the poor tenants, they would just say: Who can go against? If they will not be obedient to their landlords, they would certainly be out at the short notice next morning. Although some really happened to be supporters of these landlord’s bet, but still their making up of decision is being tampered with fears of losing their own means of living.
I have learned also groups of fishermen living along the coastal areas who are trying to organize themselves so that they could be able to solicit help from certain candidates whom they thought can give their demands. Spare the boat and the hooks and lines, this time, easy money can come in an easy way! They thought that they would not be spending a lot of their time at sea waiting for those wise fishes to eat their baits to earn for the day. At this point in time, they have to enjoy a 45 days leave of absence at sea or try to convince politicians to provide them their sustenance thru donations. Politicians cheat, they would try to do the same. This is the ways of the world!
Well, at this point in time, the canvassing of votes in the national level for winning candidates for Senators is still on-going with many believed all over the country that massive cheating has been done deliberately to push up TEAM UNITY to the edge of winning all slots!
Even in our local setting, everybody is accusing everybody of cheating! So far, in my own witness I believe that there was cheating. Each camp have their own devise of cheating and I found out that they outsmarted each other using the evil design of winning the mandate of the people. One of my friend, Dong Dizon has given me a differently realistic point of view about cheatings in politics. He said when somebody enters into the political arena, he needs to accept the fact that cheating will be one of the major agenda in winning and it all depends upon the ways and means, or strategies on how one will implement the cunning design of cheating. This is a long-time culture that has long been known among Filipinos when they were educated by the different breed of invaders or colonizers, but most possibly, the influence may be thought to be from the 400 years of Spanish colony. He said that once one enters politics, one must have in possession all the resources in order to win which could possibly include funds, people, machines, and latest technology in cheating! (Brouhhahahahahaa......!)
Now, be that as it may, what would be the effect of this to the whole economy?
Although recent reports have indicated that the peso is getting stronger than the dollar, certain quarters along the way are manipulating their turf to run after residues of this stronger peso purposely to gain or regain losses. This would certainly tend to increase interest rates on borrowings and the tendency to plunge back the peso again into its former scale. Other business quarters have instigated to fuel prices on basic commodities as well as on petroleum products purposely to cut through the residue of a stronger peso and eventually save a certain percentage of its gain as a reserve for future peso shocks! Of course, this would include dollar salters who would be keeping a shorter pace of not exposing its big reserves kept in secret chambers either in the house, certain bodega, container, underground vault, special deposit boxes in the bank, in a plastic bag, or travelling bag, or even in comfort rooms! These are special venues of depositing hidden wealth where government agents have been spying to but to no avail. Or they would just have to remain in secret and at bay for future works or so.
Anyway, the Central Bank is still in the mode of trying to augment its dire need of dollars to sustain the increasing demand outside the country. Economists would likely view this event as a time of comprehensive savings for the future. In this time, importation is given the leeway to crack into the economy the needed resources like garments and technological accessories. It’s shopping time for the whole country! Take the supplies while it lasts. Thus, a stronger peso means a lot of imported goods that can be purchased to be pump out into the consuming public. Sacks of the rice can be imported from Vietnam or China in a least possible price available in order to sustain the ever-increasing demand of rice in the market place, because the local rice granaries could no longer meet the stiff scale of producing rice to sustain the food reserves, it is time to do the marketing for their goods until the warehouse is full. Of course, local marketers would still be humming around the corner while awaiting prices to go up.
This would play down the line the energy conservation bill of the government and condition the whole country for a greater endeavor that may follow when the election is over. All set for the “Chacha Movement” while militant groups are trimming their ways to counter any move from the government. The vertical arena is now set for a new perspective! No one yet is allowed to play at the ground, until all is ready.
Well, my friends, these are the scenarios that I could possibly draw when the election is over and new set of 12 Senators will be coming in to the Senate Chamber and new or old Congressmen will be setting the House of Representatives in order come July 2007 and get started with legislative agenda that will pump out again the reserved money out of its savings status. This would certainly generate new upheavals among militant groups who are always cued when to move and when to stop. The political screen is on again to put into the centerstage the decision made by the people during the May 14, 2007 elections.
At this point in time, I rest to pursue further some unspeakable thoughts that will likely to happen in the next few days. I’ll be around to scribble the thought of it. See yaaahhhh....
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