A Primer for Philippine Politics
Fr Shay Cullen
It is election time and some say nothing ever changes in the Philippines. The candidates change but the social inequality remains. Candidates for the presidency this time range from two representing the rich elite, the daughter of a deceased movie star and a foul-mouthed mayor vowing to kill all suspected criminals and a senator who is fronting for the family of the former dictator.
The frustration of the educated middle class is the absence of a visionary leader of integrity with a genuine love of the poor, immense popularity and with a reform agenda to bring equality and justice. The election is not about agenda or policy platforms, it’s about popular controllable personalities, pliable puppets able to dance and sing or who are bombastic and crude. They must be controversial and media magnetic.
They must be submit to the interests of their financiers and accept that they have “debts of honor” to pay when and if they win the presidency. They are under the control of the media manipulators and the masters of the puppet show, and what a bewildering spectacle it is. They have to play to the gallery and capitulate to the interests of super rich.
The ruling oligarchy would never allow the rise of an independent candidate with a pro-poor agenda and a popular following. Besides, no financial bloc would fund a candidate like that. There is no political messiah on the far horizon.
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