Saturday, June 23, 2007 Carvajal: Please, not again By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
EARLIER, I wrote with delight about some election results that told me our electorate has become quite discriminate in their voting. I think I listed some eight of these signs of a maturing electorate.
To recall one, there was a clear rejection by the electorate of entertainers and athletes who just wanted to cash in politically on their popularity.
Pacquiao must have been incredulous that he lost, as popular as he thought he was.
One must not forget, however, that this is the first election in a long time when the people showed some signs that they wanted some real change.
That is the good news but that is really just a streak of daylight in a sea of darkness. Still any good news is welcome. A candle has been lit and that is always infinitely better than cursing the darkness.
In general, one must soberly admit, the last election was still a mess, a chaotic affair that was more bad news than good news.
Yes, the Arroyo administration has been totally rejected with the rout of Team Unity. (Survivors of Team Unity, Joker Arroyo and Ed Angara, are not known for their loyalty to the administration). But the bad news is that the team Genuine Opposition (GO) that carried the day does not represent a clear alternative to the governance style and direction of the present administration.
GO, for instance, ran a campaign on the issue of corruption in the Arroyo administration. But GO was captained by former president Joseph Estrada, who is on trial for corruption and plunder. People tell me President Arroyo has become more corrupt than Erap. That may be true but I cannot see any good news either in having an Erap-led Senate coming into power.
More bad news comes in the wake of stories (where there’s smoke there’s fire?) like Jinggoy Estrada wanting to be Senate President. On what basis?
Just because his dad captained and underwrote the campaign of the winning senators? He who has done nothing as a senator except become smug and arrogant now wants to be Senate President. How much worse can it get?
The ultimate bad news, of course, is the speculated come-back of Erap. It seems he wants to reclaim the throne he lost to PGMA. I can only interpret this to mean that he saw PGMA plunder the country some more so now he wants to be back to do the plundering himself. Knowing our justice system, how weak it is and how vulnerable to political and financial pressure, Erap might just be able to do this.
I write this not to exacerbate a hopeless situation but to challenge the GO-dominated new Senate to prove me wrong and lead this country out of the pit of corruption that it has become. I write also to challenge everyone to continue to be vigilant and not allow known plunderers to come back to plunder some more. Please, not again.
