IN A way, it was not a hard thing to understand how political power is endowed upon those who presented the least harm to the established and landed families. Yet the changing demands of migration presented a new dimension in the political equation. Much of CDO’s best and brightest had sought other places where one was able to maximize their talents, skills and potential. CDO started to feel the crunch of population growth, not just for employment and business opportunities, but a lot due to the desire of candidates padding the voter’s list with the so-called flying voters.
One does not need to name names here. Why do you think our informal settlers are protected by our politicians? They all vote, subject to blackmail and whose survival is guaranteed by our leaders to ensure their political survival. That is the root of the word “vote ibot”, where one gets evicted from one’s home if one will not vote for the candidate. And in 2011 campaign, I saw for myself how most of us live. It is simply gut-wrenching to say the least. A shameful indictment of how hypocritical our leaders have been all these years, subjecting so many of us to all those lies of “kausaban” and “kaugmaon” where almost everyone I shook hands with would reply “mao gihapon” when asked how they are.
But we all know that “mao gihapon” is not real. Life is not static, one either improves or declines in terms of status. So I thought that maybe what they were saying was that every election time, candidates come and go, but everything stays the same. Promises are made and they are never kept. So they vote as they are paid to do so. For in truth, poverty has been guaranteed for some of us so that our candidates can be assured of victory at the polls.
Who gets credit for Philhealth? Not the taxpayer, but the politician. Same thing with the roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure, whether they are overpriced or substandard in quality. The honorables get the credit, plastered all over social media and tarpaulins, spent for by taxpayers. And please do not say it is but right for the people to know. These “epals” is one of the single most patronizing acts of our politicians. It is fine to announce, but the face? Really. We know when a leader is doing their sworn duty, manifested, felt and experienced by the ease by which the basic services are availed of. There is simply no need to advertise, especially outside of the campaign period.
But that is the present reality. With CDO grown beyond the local government’s capacity to cope with, it has become a challenge to get the information around. And that is the same for lies. Say something and it sticks for a week or so, which most will end up believing, taking things as it is without thinking or simply listening. Much of traditional outlets and personalities have been much maligned and maybe some are truly justified. And one wonders where much of these attacks are coming from and gets published. They are mostly bloggers, most of whom I consider as trolls with a face. They are a disgrace to the legitimate and respectful blogging profession.
But going back to the early part of my decision to settle in this city, going to the market was a breeze literally. One can breathe air, clean air for Cogon Market then was a series of pavilions with open spaces in between. Just like the Limketkai Mall of old. Cogon Market now is simply the model of what a public market should not be. One of the worst examples of local government’s neglect. And one does not have to have foreign input to run a public market. Maybe it is best to have the vendors do it themselves. After all, they are the main stakeholders of a public market. The vendors will be the ones to directly benefit or lose business if a public market is managed well. Not some politician or technocrat who is guaranteed of his or her paycheck.
To be continued