Friday, December 14, 2007 Wenceslao: Most corrupt president By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
THERE are questions and there are questions. Some of them are well thought of. Others are just plain dumb. Like when a reporter asks the wife of a shooting victim: Were you saddened by your husband’s death? So when Pulse Asia’s October survey sought respondents’ opinion on who was/is this country’s most corrupt president, I was amused.
Okay, Pulse Asia is merely after the people’s pulse, not their knowledge of history and current events. But one can be sure that the question, when hurled at less enlightened respondents, will conjure a misleading finding. I am no fan of President Arroyo and her rule, but is she more corrupt than Ferdinand Marcos? Give me a break.
More than two decades have passed since Marcos was booted out of Malacañang by the Edsa uprising, the so-called People Power 1. That means the formative years of many of that survey’s respondents were within the post-Marcos period. Besides, the passing of the years have resulted in the muddling of people’s recollection of the past.
This is the reason why making decent comparisons between governments is difficult. The Marcoses, for example, has recovered a foothold on the country’s politics, allowing its minions to propagate a revisionist view of Marcos’ reign. Besides, history books used in schools have not been able to give a good enough account of those years.
My formative years ran smack into the middle stages of the Marcos regime, and the idealism of youth ensured that I will remember what I observed and learned in those “dark days.” Who can forget the rapaciousness of Marcos and his cronies, the profligacy of Imeldific, the loot that caught the attention of the Guinness Book of World Records?
In a response to the result of the Pulse Asia survey, the Newsbreak website posted yesterday an article headlined: “Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s $164.7 million ‘loot’ no match to Marcos’ $10 billion.” This shows the disparity in the perception foisted by the survey results with loot figures, which does not speak well of the work Pulse Asia did.
But why blame the survey firm for all the confusion? Pulse Asia styles itself as a respected firm and insists on its methodology as scientific. If so, its people know that asking people’s opinions on topics that survey respondents may not be able to answer decently is tricky. It can whip up results that are worthless or are propaganda fodder.
To be fair, however, the survey result has some use, and this is to alert us of the skewed view on some aspects of the country’s history by a segment of the populace. I don’t buy the idea that Filipinos have short memory. Rather, it is the kind of society we have, or specifically our politics, that is giving rise to the “mis-appreciation” of our past.
In this, one does not need to go far for examples. In 2001, then president Joseph Estrada was ousted by Edsa 2 and jailed for plunder. He was convicted this year, only to be pardoned by President Arroyo. His wife and recently his son became senator of the land. Now Erap is going around propagating a different interpretation of his rule.
Throughout all these, even respected civil society and Catholic Church leaders and veteran politicians linked up with Estrada and babied him. The result? A number of people now believe Erap is actually one of the competent and honest presidents we had.
