MANILA
The temperamental President Manuel L. Quezon famously said: “I prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos to a government run like heaven by Americans.”
You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.
Filipino politicians from Quezon’s time to today must have thought that his statement was a wish and they’ve been working towards fulfilling it since.
And they have succeeded. I think it’s fair to say we have, in the past several decades, a government run like hell by Filipinos. As an independent people, we’ve made a mess of governance.
The worst time in Philippine history was the martial law years of Ferdinand Marcos. Professing to have the welfare of the people at heart, Marcos destroyed practically all institutions in the country. The repression practiced by Marcos’ military henchmen destroyed society.
Cory Aquino helped topple Marcos and saved democracy for us. But her term was so tumultuous, nothing much beyond saving freedom, which was quite an achievement in itself, was accomplished.
Joseph Estrada was an unmitigated disaster. Gloria Arroyo was even worse. Governing for nine years, she allowed massive corruption to take place. She made the inept Estrada look like an altar boy in comparison.
The jury is still out on Noynoy Aquino. The fact that he’s no thief is a plus. But maybe the people’s expectations from the heir of Ninoy and Cory Aquino were too unrealistic. Many people don’t even give him credit for making the economy healthier and for running after thieves in government (which his critics spin as vindictiveness rather than justice).
Five months from now we will again elect a president. In our continuing task of nationbuilding we are about to be put to the test again. Will we be able to choose the right person to lead our country for the next six years?
We have a former city mayor and current vice president running for president encumbered by credible charges of amassing illegal wealth. We have a super-ambitious neophyte senator whose sense of entitlement overflows.
We have a vulgar-mouthed city mayor who curses even the Pope. We have a politician-technocrat whose reputation is that of indecisiveness. And we have an experienced but ailing senator who may be way past her prime.
This lineup is so unappealing, there are those who’ve called for a boycott of the elections (which I don’t support; I’d rather that we vote wisely). In any politically mature society, two of these candidates would be automatically written off people’s lists.
Another one is so green it makes her look overreaching and overambitious. And she was once an American citizen. One of the last two is too old and the other too indecisive.
Are we fated to continue to suffer bad government, one run like hell by Filipinos? Quezon’s preference has become self-fulfilling.
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