PNoy and politics

Any observer of the current political scene cannot help but wonder why President Aquino is actively campaigning for his favored senatorial bets. In every major party rally the presence of His Excellency has been a regular event. Add to this are frequent radio announcements where the president mouths the names of his line-up, saying that these people are “matuwid” like him.

Why is PNoy spending precious presidential time for such undertaking? Has the country's 6.7 percent economy growth lulled him into complacency? What about the 28 million Pinoys who are dirt poor and can hardly eat three times a day? What about the China and Sabah problems? What about the ongoing massive smuggling, deteriorating peace and order, and suffocating environmental concerns?

Three years to go and time is running out for the Aquino presidency. Or is he content with his pogi image as shown in slanted surveys? Perhaps, the cordon sanitaire of His Excellency is doing a good job in shielding him from the realities in the grassroots. All is well for the country, they must have repeatedly whispered this to their boss, and so, why not enjoy the political circus?

Malacañang's spin-doctors say that a solidly Aquino-leaning Senate is needed to push through the President's legislative agenda without impediments. But isn't the current crop of senators already hooked to PNoy's mood and caprices? Remember the Corona trial and the RH law? Remember the “spaghetti” members of the House who railroaded the impeachment resolution at the behest of Malacañang?

No, the president hardly needs a strongly partisan Senate or House of Representatives for his reform agenda, if any. Perhaps, what drives him to this frenzy of campaigning is nothing but pride. At the very start, his advisers must have urged him to take to the political front, which he did. But now, if less than the 12-0 target comes out, what will happen to his credibility?

When PNoy ran for president in 2010, many Filipinos chose him because of his non-political image. As a congressman and later as a senator, he kept himself out of political skirmishes, probably because being the son of a former president he did not need any party endorsement to get elected or reelected to the legislative. Mainly for this, the people thought that the new president would be apolitical and therefore could push this country to a higher level of development.

But they were wrong. Like the others before him, politics has figured in his policies and decisions. Look, who are his crop of department heads and middle level managers. Are they not the dogged yellow-clad sycophants? Some of these have poor track records as government men, but political loyalty has kept them where they are. Moreover, political temper has made him a merciless persecutor against his predecessor, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and those closely associated with her. Hail the knight in shining armor fighting the windmill of corruption! “Walang mahirap kung walang corrupt”. But sadly, that fight has misplaced his attention, and the mahirap remain mahirap, and in fact have increased in number.

To go back to election campaign, if pride is what drives the president in this thrust, that pride is bound to get bruised after May 13, 2013. The truth is that the Liberal party's target of 12-0 is simply unattainable - unless some kind of magic happens to the PCOS generated election returns. But even with a wounded pride, PNoy need not worry about his credibility. He still has three years to make amends. Besides, the masa do not really care whose faces make up the Senate or the House of Representatives. It is whether they get enough food for their stomach, enough shelter for their families, enough health care, and enough education for their children.

Pride and credibility may be the Holy Grail of politicians. But for the average Filipino it is survival and a better quality of life.

Can the President give them these before he bows out?