Campaign Period Announcement

Commission on Election calendar of activities for the May 10, 2010 local and National elections.

February 9, 2010 to May 8, 2010
- Campaign period for President, Vice-President, Senators.
- Campaign period for Party-list groups participating in the party-list system of representation.

May 26, 2010 to May 8, 2010
-Campaign period for candidates for Members of the House of Representative and Elective Provincial, City and Municipal Officials.

May 7, 2010
-Last day for testing and sealing of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS)

Local and National Election is now at hand. Are we ready now or still in process of choosing our leaders? It takes a special person to light a candle in the dark. If you want prosperity, you’ve got to go and create it yourself. Be a candle in the dark, it’s your time to show your light. Be a responsible voter.

Imagine Leadership

Imagine Leadership.
Imagine yourself leading.

Who is your leader?
Watch this insightful video.



Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuuTlQ0FzEU

NOw, it's for you to decide who you want to lead your life?

Be a responsible citizen, choose wisely.
Be the change of the world.

Zombies, Trapos and the Merchandising of Political Patronage

ZOMBIES, TRAPOS AND THE MERCHANDIZING
OF
POLITICAL PATRONAGE
By
MANUEL E. VALDEHUESA JR.

Author, A NATION OF ZOMBIES: Powerless Grassroots, Clueless Elite and the Cycle of Corruption in the Philippines. 2009.Cagayan de Oro City: Capitol University Press.

Mr. President, Mme. Executive Vice President, School Deans, Department Heads, Faculty & Staff, Director, Editors & Staff of Capitol University Press, Honored Guests, Friends:

Thank you all for helping launch this modest volume. It used to be that one had to go to Manila to get a book published. Not so anymore. So I am thankful for the visionary leadership of Capitol University. As an old hand in development and publishing circles, I can say that it is a good sign when a university undertakes a publishing program; for it is the universal mission of a university to advance knowledge. It does this through research, then seeing to its utilization, or by publishing the research findings.    

To advance knowledge was what drove me to write this book. I wanted to share my observations about our political culture -- which is under siege from all quarters by modern-day barbarians, charlatans and despoilers of our common wealth. They are better known as traditional politicians, or trapos. Some of what I write may be a hard to swallow; but I share them to provoke discussion, perhaps action. It matters little whether you agree with me or not; what’s important is that our ideas, yours and mine, can now form a stream of consciousness that might lead to building a consensus.

Consensus is important in a city. It is important in the same way that a vision and mission statement is important in a corporation. Consensus is what binds a diverse, multicultural community. It provides the basis for a common vision towards equitable sharing of burdens and rewards, towards peace and development, towards progress.

Consensus is important for a sense of community to develop -- the sense that tells us we have common interests, we belong together, that therefore we need to work together. Out of consensus arises political will, a sense of direction, or a purpose for cooperation. Without it we can hardly call ourselves a community; we are just a bunch of people thrown together by accident of geography, or by the lure of Piso-Piso land grants.

Consider the condition of our city. It is in the throes of anarchy and chaos: squatters everywhere, filthy sewers and public facilities, unruly traffic, poor sense of law and order, rampant discontent accompanied by rampant gambling. We have no coherent vision or direction as a community. Huge projects get built and no one knows why except that it’s the mayor’s or the vice mayor’s fetish; no one knows how much it costs, either; not least, no one knows how much is pilfered or pocketed. This is a government that does things in defiance of rather than in pursuance of the people’s wishes. It is an oligarchy.

It is happening because the popular will is not articulated and the citizens fail to protect their interests. It is abetted by the breakdown of consensus-building mechanisms such as the puppet City Council and the inert City Development Council. So the citizens are not heard or represented in decision making. They are simply manipulated, pushed or pulled every which way without consultation or consent. The oligarchs are in control. They hold the key to the treasury and the apparatus of the bureaucracy.

Wielding the power of patronage and dole out, they keep the majority of our populace under their spell. So the rule of law is no match against the tyranny of numbers. They can legitimize illegal acts. They can railroad legislation and rig elections. Because the majority encompasses squatters, people that vote but do not pay taxes, taxpayers are marginalized or taken for granted.

Pandering to the squatter majority emboldens them to purchase land at market rates, then give the same away at the ridiculous fee of one-peso per lot. This dole out strengthens trapo stranglehold on government even as it weakens the city’s economy. Giving the lots away to the penurious and underemployed decommissions large tracts of land and places them beyond the reach of the taxman. Since there’s no way one-peso can reimburse the fabulous rates at which the land is bought, the city is bled financially. This cavalier handling of our common wealth is irresponsible and ill-motivated profligacy.

But no one complains except a solitary voice or two. Everyone else is silent, everyone feels helpless, or defenseless over a class issue that prejudices all taxpayers, saddling them with the burden of government upkeep while the rest get a free ride for their votes.

The taxpaying citizens are voiceless, so they are helpless. They lack political will, so they are readily manipulated. They labor under a captive system, so it is open season for abuse, opportunism, and corruption. That’s how these trapos launch huge projects like markets and bridges without consultation or due process. That’s how it turns out that the criteria is based on how much in kickbacks and commissions a project will earn. That’s how public interest is betrayed year after year! The government is privatized.

The abuse has become so pervasive and shameless that even pigs are roasted, cakes are baked, and priests and churches are contracted to snare unwed couples into mass weddings. No one seems to realize how this hypocritical gimmick yields a bonanza of grateful supporters, followers, campaigners, and voters on Election Day.

Lets face it: A whole new trapo industry has emerged around the merchandizing of political patronage. Every bit and morsel of public works and social services is converted into private tokens bearing the names and faces of the trapos.

They have brought corrupt practices to unprecedented heights of shamelessness. Hardly a week passes but that there’s a political gimmick in progress – a medical mission, a feeding program, a mass wedding, distribution of health cards, circumcision or haircut, name them! These instruments of patronage and corrupt electioneering are a plague upon our political system. No road, pavement, or building is built but that it must bear the name and face of a trapo or the label of a company that donates big to campaign chests. Now anyone can avail of medical services by simply signing away his vote to a trapo patron.

Our lawmakers are accelerating our social deterioration down the depths of corruption and retrogression. And their conniving partners in the executive branch are serving as pimps, pushers, and merchandizers of pork barrel. Everywhere there is credit-grabbing – for what? -- for squandering the people’s money! How we have gone far far away from our role models like Pres. Ramon Magsaysay, Vice Pres Emmanuel Pelaez… and yes, Ninoy and Cory.

They had integrity, delicadeza, gravitas. They made us feel decent; they made us hope in democracy; they made us believe in autonomy and self-help; they made us care about duty and honor, about God and country. Who do we have today? Demagogues, charlatans, free-loaders, plunderers, power-greedy oligarchs. In their posturing, they only succeed in portraying our society as Asia’s most corrupt. Instead of instilling pride, they make us feel dirty, indecent, and embarrassed about our nationality.

In the 1950s, Ramon Magsaysay “The Guy” stirred up the masses and awakened their sense of sovereignty, including mine while I was still in high school. He opened our eyes and made us aware of our dignity, our rights, and our inherent power. In doing so, he empowered us and brought us the light of hope during that dark period in our history.

After we lost Magsaysay in a plane crash, others picked up his torch – notably, our Maning Pelaez, who showed how a provinciano from a small town called Medina can be a class act on the world stage and rise to the pinnacle of national politics without resort to guns, goons, or gold as many did and do to this day. He was our beloved congressman, senator, vice president, secretary of foreign affairs, peace negotiator, representative to the United Nations, and ambassador the United States: the quintessential statesman.

Close to home, we had Tinying Borja, beloved mayor of Cagayanons. He showed how even a lowly City Hall can be a staging point for statesmanship and win respect not only for himself but for his constituents. Although our city then was still a fledgling urban community, it hosted ambassadors and Magsaysay Awardees who came to see what sort of people lived in the nation’s best managed urban center of that time. Justiniano R. Borja was and is the pride of Cagayan de Oro.

          Not long after Tinying Borja died prematurely came Reuben Rabe Canoy. Reuben helped us define a vision for a friendly city. He gave the neighborhoods of our nation a sense of identity and power by conjuring up their ancient roots as self-governing barangays. He then reinforced the barangay’s role by his broadcasting mantra that “an informed citizenry makes democracy strong, while indifferent and neglectful citizens imperil freedom and liberty.” The rebirth of the barangay is Reuben Canoy’s enduring legacy to Filipino nationhood.

Where are there leaders today with a vision and statesmanship such as they had? Who is there that we can look up to as an icon for good, honest, honorable governance? Is there a leader in our city, in our region, in our nation who makes us feel proud, who makes us feel honored, or inspires us by his honesty, ability, or statesmanship?

Trapo leaders are not entirely useless, however, if only because they serve as examples of how not to govern and whom not to vote for. They have their uses. They inspire journalists to write of corruption, of manipulation, of dynastic ambition and monopoly, of greed or lust for power. They provide for their families and enrich their cronies. I don’t even have to name them here, for they are already well-known.

They save us the trouble of identifying them by their habit of plastering their names and faces on billboards, streamers, vehicles, even garbage bins. They reveal themselves by festooning our sidewalks, the overhead cables, and the sidings of government-supplied vehicles with their shameless names and faces. Their postings and hangings hang like dirty laundry throughout the landscape. And to add insult to injury, these are produced and installed entirely at our expense. Let those tarpaulins and billboards be your reminder not to re-elect them!

But, to be realistic, my suggestion may serve no practical purpose. With all the flattery and lionizing they get from civil society groups in hopes of getting a share of their pork barrel, they’ll probably get re-elected. They’ll win again because people who claim to dislike abuse or betrayal pander to them, surrender governance to them, and let their minions get away with corruption right in the community’s backyard -- in their own barangay, where the election precincts are staked out long before elections so the zombies can be herded smoothly into them.

So who are the zombies? They are us! They are our neighbors! They are everyone else, devout or unbeliever, who surrenders the government of his barangay to trapos big and small! These zombies, starting with ourselves, need to wake up and snap out of the spell cast by the trapos using patronage and graft and corruption

We cannot afford to let this privatization of government and the appropriation of its resources for personal vainglory go on without risking decline into a failed state.

Thank you for listening. God Bless you. God bless Cagayan and Misamis Oriental, God bless the Philippines!

_____________________________
6 November 2009, Museum of Three Cultures, Capitol University, Cagayan de oro City

May this article, provoke discussion and perhaps action that might lead to building a consensus to all of us Filipinos.  May we be enlightened.

Comelec extends registration hours

In anticipation of last-minute registrants, the Commission on Elections will be extending by at least four hours the daily voters' registration being conducted across the country until the end of the month.

"We are aware that a lot of Filipinos choose to register at the last minute. So in order to accommodate them and also address the growing crowds at our field offices as we near the registration deadline, the Comelec en banc has ordered the extension of office hours in all registration centers nationwide," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

Jimenez said that starting October 22 until October 30, registration hours in Comelec field offices will be open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Registration on October 31, the last day for registration, will be open until 12 midnight.

Jimenez was quick to clarify, however, that they are only extending the registration hours, not the registration days.

Continue Reading, click here!

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/175191/comelec-extends-registration-hours-nationwide

This is a great chance for those not yet registered so, go now to your nearest registration centers.

Applications to Country Programs Against Corruption

A campaign against corruption must go beyond words, indeed beyond new laws. Institutional adjustment is needed to limit the scope of corruption (and more generally, to enhance efficiency).

A rough formula holds: we will tend to have corruption when there is monopoly plus discretion minus accountability. Therefore, by "structural reforms" we mean actions that:

• Limit monopoly: promote competition in the public and private sectors, avoid monopoly-granting regulations when possible (especially exchange controls and quantitative restrictions on imports), open the economy to international competition, and so forth.

• Clarify official discretion: simplify rules and regulations via "bright lines," help citizens learn the way the system is supposed to work (through brochures and manuals, help desks, laws and rules in ordinary language, publicity campaigns, the use of citizen service-providers, etc.), improve oversight of officials' actions, and so forth.

• Enhance accountability and transparency: private-sector involvement in many ways, including citizen oversight boards, hot lines, ombudsmen, inquiry commissions, etc.; the systematic generation and dissemination of information about public service effectiveness; external audits; self-policing by the private sector; clear standards of conduct and rules of the game; greater competition and openness in bidding, grant-giving, and aid projects.

Institutional adjustment builds on the insight that systems are corrupt, not just people. Corruption is a label covering many different phenomena, and within each category of corrupt activities are many questions of degree. The beginning of wisdom in an anti-corruption effort is to disaggregate.

It is impossible to avoid ethical questions when one speaks of corruption. And yet, this is what successful reforms must try to do. They must focus on corruption as a crime of economic calculation. They must analyze systems rather than condemn individuals, understanding the formula corruption = monopoly + discretion - accountability.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Applications-to-Country-Programs-Against-Corruption&id=3013490 
 




 

The Politics of Anti-Corruption Endeavors

After the first participatory diagnosis, government might sponsor further workshops at several levels (including government officials, international businesses, local businesses, and aid donors). Studies can also play a catalytic role. Of particular interest are studies of systems of information and evaluation (their extent, quality, how used and misused), analysis of actual and hypothetical incentive systems, and studies that contrast successful and unsuccessful cases within the country in question.

For example, in a given country certain public enterprises may be a significant source of corruption in international business transactions. Yet other public enterprises may be functioning well and relatively cleanly. Why? What lessons can be learned from the successes?

Studying successes has a psychological benefit. Locals see that they are not perceived as inept by over generalizing outsiders. Transparency has a new meaning, that with good information they can learn from each other.

Other studies might attempt to gauge the existence and degree of corruption in public procurement, foreign aid projects, and debt repayment (to name three possible locations for corruption in international business transactions). The studies would examine a particular case of an alleged corrupt transaction, but would simultaneously analyze the general class of cases of which that was an instance. The methodology would involve interviews on a confidential in the public and private sectors. In other words, we are not talking about a dry academic study, but research that evokes from local people their knowledge of how corrupt local systems work and what might be done to make those systems function better.

Such studies would carry an indirect benefit. They would create certain uneasiness among the locals as basic problems are uncovered and documented. They would also build a baseline of data from which future progress can be judged.

It is a curiosity: political scientists who study administrative change often seem to overlook politics. An effective strategy for fighting corruption should not. Part of the "assessment" of the enabling environment should also focus on the political forces that might aid or block various changes.

"Politics" has another dimension: relations in the country leadership. Ideally, local leaders will already be convinced of the need to undertake institutional adjustment. If not, their incentives and constraints must be carefully analyzed. The proposed strategy of administrative adjustment ideally would be transparent. It would be "incentive compatible" even for political leaders with less than ideal motivations.


Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Politics-of-Anti-Corruption-Endeavors&id=3013644




 

We Must Demand Higher Ethics From Our Politicians

If we wish to progress, and strengthen our communities, states, and even our nation as a whole then we are going to need more solid individuals running for office. We need people with higher ethical standards, those who are willing to tell us the truth, and we must listen to that truth without demanding free stuff, or voting in someone is willing to lie to us to appease our every want and desire.

Not long ago, I was having a conversation with an acquaintance and we were talking about how ridiculous it was that a certain city had reelected their mayor, a mayor who had mismanaged the city, taken bribes, and was irresponsible in almost every way imaginable. We got to talking and this is the comment we came up with;

"It's amazing what people can be led to believe sometimes from podium pushing politicians, with packed pocketbooks, and passionate PACs."

Still, one has to ask if the citizens and voters of this great nation will ever wake up. It's almost gotten to the point that we fully expect our politicians to be corrupt, and have low ethical standards. And to this we aspire? We have lowered our own standards so much that we are willing to deal with this, often choosing the lesser of two evils when both candidates have questionable ethics.

Why on earth would we settle for such when we live in the greatest nation the world has ever known. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and yet, we go on each election cycle and do the same thing over and over again; the definition of insanity in its purest form, but why? Why doesn't anybody ask, why won't we demand higher standards of our politicians and podium pushers question. I hope you will please consider this.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?We-Must-Demand-Higher-Ethics-From-Our-Politicians&id=3024199

This is a great article to really consider especially that Philippine 2010 Election is now approaching.