The tiger and the hyena

Vicious is the tiger – with razor-sharp teeth and muscular legs; the hyena, on the other hand, is a hardy beast, a skilled hunter no doubt.

In the appalling speakership row at the House of Representatives, one wonders – who is the tiger and who is the hyena? Is it Lord or is it Peter? It all depends really on where you sit.

But pondering on the unbelievable display of petulance and power in the chamber that is supposed to represent the Filipino people, I realized that we are mistaken if we think the only characters in this vertigo-inducing birthday war are House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

While they have their respective allies in the echelons of power – pawns, rooks, knights – we can’t discount the invisible hands backing them – their businessmen-allies who have the power to tilt the game to anyone’s favor.

Both lawmakers have the backing of some of the country’s most powerful businessmen. The more support one gets, the better his chances of winning this seemingly unending power play.

The support of their respective tycoon friends can change the game, with their money and influence in the Philippine political arena.

Cayetano, my sources say, has the backing of a Forbes-listed billionaire who is a staunch supporter of the National United Party, which in 2016 formed an alliance with President Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.

Another businessman supporting Cayetano isn’t on the Forbes Top 10, but is on the list nonetheless because of his mining empire.

Velasco, on the other hand, has the support of equally powerful businessmen and tycoons, including lawmakers who are rich businessmen themselves.

Other businessmen, on the other hand, will take the cue from Duterte himself.

“Whoever (of the two) the President supports, we will support,” says a source from a powerful tycoon’s camp.

Tuesday night’s one-two punch

How big a role these businessmen-allies will play in the speakership row is difficult to measure, but some of them are involved one way or another, say my sources in the business community.

It’s not surprising really.

Every powerful businessman in this country has a posse of lawmaker friends. They support rookies and reelectionists every election season, making horse-trading easy for them in big gambles such as the speakership row.

And if Cayetano’s one-two punch on Tuesday is any indication, it seems that, like the Speaker himself, his businessmen-allies have stepped up their game.

On Tuesday, Cayetano rushed the second-reading approval of the government’s proposed 2021 budget while his allies moved to suspend session until Nov. 16, practically burying the critical Oct. 14 date when Velasco is supposed to take over as speaker based on their original term-sharing agreement.

Business and politics

That businessmen are putting their money, effort and time in politicians isn’t surprising. It’s how it’s always been.

They need friends in Congress as much as our lawmakers need them. And why not? They need their franchises, tax exemptions, and other business-friendly measures.

Do we wonder, for instance, how mergers and acquisitions valued at less than P50 billion managed to be exempt from the eagle eyes of the Philippine Competition Commission for two years? It’s because of a provision lawmakers inserted in the recently approved Bayanihan 2.

Indeed, the relationship between business and politics in the Philippines is as perfectly mixed as the famed halo-halo, the all-time Filipino ice-cold summer dessert.

Lines are blurred and sometimes one can’t tell one from the other. Politics is big business and business is always involved in politics.

Oligopolistic

This is why some sectors in the Philippines remain oligopolistic. Worse, monopolies still exist.

Patronage politics, bequeathed to us by the Spaniards, is still so deeply ingrained in our system and sometimes this comes at the expense of ordinary Filipinos.

In 1571 when Manila was the capital of the Spanish administration in the Philippines for instance, top Filipino businessmen gained a virtual monopoly of the Galleon Trade. What was supposed to be a source of income for Filipinos was controlled by just a powerful few.

What was true then is still very much a reality today and the result is a nation with stark income inequality.

Will the real Speaker please stand up

So yes, there are tigers and hyenas in Congress and they are aplenty, but let’s not forget the kings of the jungle in this country we live in. Speakers will come and go, and lawmakers will fade into oblivion, but businessmen-kingmakers -- the godfathers to politicos -- have empires that endure because they’re the real kings.

Against this backdrop, we will continue to watch the speakership drama. It is appalling really to have to witness this telenovela unfold before our eyes.

Gone are the statesmen of decades past. Recalls a senior citizen reader: “One of the things that I appreciated in the old Congress is the adherence to the practice of using the third person and observance of polite language.”

‘Mr. Speaker, will the gentle lady yield to a few questions?’

Their debates and interpellations, he says, made so much sense, a far cry from the cringe-worthy and crass language and at times, senseless arguments of some of today’s lawmakers.

Gone indeed are the ladies and gentlemen of the old school and those who love the country more than themselves.

The red, white and blue, the three stars and the sun – our beloved republic represented by this tricolored symbol – have been forgotten at the House of Representatives and it’s mostly because one lawmaker is turning 50 and another is turning 43.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com