Category: dynasty

surveys and the filipino elite

after reading randy david’s  Surveys and public opinion, i googled for more and found that, while it is conceded that election polls can influence voters in different ways:

The bandwagon effect, when voters rally to the leading candidate;
The underdog effect, when voters rally to the trailing candidate;
The demotivating effect, when voters decide not to vote because their candidate is already sure to win;
The motivating effect, when voters go to the precincts because the polls alerted them to the election; or
The free-will effect when voters cast their votes to prove the polls wrong.

and that, while even congress passed the Fair Election Act in february 2001, providing that

5.4. Surveys affecting national candidates shall not be published fifteen (15) days before an election and surveys affecting local candidates shall not be published seven (7) days before an election.

surprise, surprise, the davide supreme court ruled in may 2001 that

§5.4 is invalid because (1) it imposes a prior restraint on the freedom of expression, (2) it is a direct and total suppression of a category of expression even though such suppression is only for a limited period, and (3) the governmental interest sought to be promoted can be achieved by means other than suppression of freedom of expression.

googled some more and stumbled on this find: The Politics of “Public Opinion” in the Philippines (2010) by Eva Lotte E. Hedman, research fellow, London School of Economics.  excerpts [bolds mine]:

Since the restoration of formal democratic institutions and practices in 1986 … the Philippines has seen a more gradual and limited transformation in the mobilisation of voters. This change is inextricably linked with the increasing circulation in Philippine politics and society of what is commonly referred to as “public opinion.” As argued in this paper, the sheer accumulation and anticipation of surveys, reflecting back to the (disaggregated) public their (aggregated) opinion, have become inextricably linked to dynamics of bandwagoning, as well as to efforts at what scholars have described as “political branding” (Pasotti 2009). [Journal Of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 29(4), 97-118. 101. Retrieved April 8, 2013.

… “public opinion” has gained greater circulation as political discourse and social fact in Philippine politics and society, with the popularity and poll ratings of candidates – rather than the construction and maintenance of machines – viewed as an increasingly effective and decisive mode of voter mobilisation. This trend is perhaps most evident in the close correspondence between pre-election surveys and the performance of presidential contenders at the polls in the 2010 elections. However, the rise of public opinion has also come to influence the process of election campaigning itself, as seen in the floating and junking of candidates, the party-switching of politicians, and the unravelling of coalitions, all developments noted by informed observers of the presidential elections of May 2010.[103-104]

Indeed, in the wider context of multiple parties and candidates for office without political platforms or programmes of any real distinction, the apparition of an opinionated public in survey after survey is worthy of note as a phenomenon in its own right. That is, aside from the specific content of any one survey, public opinion polling has emerged as an institutionalised practice in the Philippines, an established social fact. As already noted, the sheer increase in surveys is ample testimony to this reality (Chua 2004). Beyond the increasing number and frequency of surveys, moreover, there is mounting evidence of considerable media interest in and political controversy over the “reported findings” of surveys, focused on the facts and figures of specific polls, but also, importantly, on the very claims to professional objectivity and scientific method that lie at the heart of the production of public opinion for public consumption. As the accumulation and anticipation of surveys have achieved both momentum and continuous reproduction and circulation, the significance of public opinion as such thus extends well beyond the (instrumental) uses and abuses of surveys to encompass (structural) effects of a different order in Philippine politics and society. [105-106]

Beyond the focus on technical problems and solutions associated with polling, or the attempts at restricting the practice itself, the rise of “public opinion,” as a phenomenon in its own right, appears in a very different light, as do its purported effects, when viewed through the critical lens of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and others writing in a similar vein. As argued by Bourdieu more than thirty years ago, “public opinion” is “a pure and simple artefact whose function is to dissimulate the fact that the state of the opinion at a given moment is a system of forces, of tensions” (Bourdieu 1979). Polls and surveys, it has been argued, are thus instruments “not of political knowledge but of political action,” whose deployment inherently devalues other forms of collective action – strikes, protests, social movements – and rests on a “formally equalitarian aggregative logic” that ignores and obscures the profound realities of deprivation, poverty, and social inequality in countries such as the Philippines (Wacquant 2004; Champagne 1990). [110-111]

Viewed from this perspective, the rise of public opinion can be more readily seen to have coincided, at the outset, with the emergence of a new form of political action in the Philippines. This new political activism was directed, not merely at Marcos’ ailing dictatorship, but also, importantly, against the labour strikes, student protests and peasant movements that surfaced in the factories, the campuses, and the haciendas of the country, precisely at a time when the Communist Party of the Philippines, and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, emerged the single largest such organisation (in opposition, not in control, of state power) anywhere in the world. Long before the institutionalisation of “public opinion” through polls and surveys after the resurrection of democracy, it was this struggle for “hearts and minds” that unleashed the “will of the people” into Philippine political discourse, as seen in the high-profile campaigns to collect one million signatures on a petition for Cory Aquino to run for president in 1985, to organise as many volunteers for Namfrel (National Movement for Free Elections) in 1985-86, and, finally, to oust an authoritarian regime by means of People Power in February 1986.[110-111]

At first glance, it may appear that the funeral corteges and petition drives which helped to jump-start the presidential campaigns of two generations of Aquinos, a full quarter-century apart, remain a thing apart from the rise of public opinion as political discourse. Indeed, in the case of “Cory”, the public spectacle that propelled her into popular consciousness coincided with the first appearance of the Philippines’ foremost polling institution, the Social Weather Station (SWS) in 1985 and thus pre-dated the wider circulation of public opinion as political discourse under post-Marcos conditions of democratic elections. By contrast, public opinion surveys had already become firmly established aspects of Philippine election campaigns by 2010, when Noynoy’s successful presidential candidacy was acclaimed as something of a foundational moment and unique repertoire in the rise of public opinion in the Philippines [112]

While typically associated with progress and change, and, indeed, with “new citizens-cum-voters”, “People Power,” as an – perhaps all too – familiar repertoire of protest, may also have emerged as part of the obstacles to further democratization in the Philippines.

As for the new forms of voter mobilisation themselves, the May 2010 presidential victory of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III also signals the limited transformative potential associated with the politics of “public opinion”.

Unsurprisingly, the nature of such change reflects, in key respects, broader patterns in Philippine politics, as shown above. However, the limits to the transformative potential of “public opinion” also stem from the very deployment of polls and surveys, with their formally equalitarian aggregative logic, and concomitant devaluation of other forms of collective action and solidarities. “When used as a gauge of ‘public opinion’ […] polls not only miss the mark but shift the target,” and, thus, it has been argued, “offer at best a naïve and narrow view of democracy” (Salmon and Glasser 1995: 449). In the context of the Philippines, this shifting of the target and narrowing of the view of democracy first came into its own during the widespread popular mobilisation surrounding the rise of the first Aquino presidency. With a second Aquino elected president of the country, “public opinion” may have emerged as social fact in Philippine politics and society, but for all the countless quality of life surveys and political polls conducted in the past quarter-century on a pluralistic one-person, one-vote basis, it is difficult to dismiss the charge levelled by critics that the practice of polling serves to obscure profound realities of deprivation, poverty, and social inequality in the country today. [115]

so there.  in effect the fiipino elite has managed to appropriate, co-opt, and spin “public opinion” and “people power” to serve only its interests.  political dynasties forever.   ironic, no, wicked, that it’s under cover of “freedom of expression.”

maybe we should just boycott elections, as in jose saramago’s Seeing (2007), where government held elections and nobody came.  maybe then the ruling elite will finally get the message: tama na, sobra na, palitan na ang bulok na sistema!

the PH caste system and the myth of elections

Scratch the surface of Philippine society; it has its version of the caste system, despite all its trappings of democracy and capitalism. The essence of caste system has been operating in our country: A Filipino’s place in life is determined by birth and he lives, works, marries and dies in the class he is born in, and so will his children and their children.

~ Rigoberto Tiglao 

abad trip

A bad idea
Jojo Robles

One is enough. Two is probably a bad sign, three is definitely a bad precedent and four just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Fourpeople from a single family—all surnamed Abad—are in key government positions in the new Aquino administration. And by “key,” we mean exactly that, because all four are involved in government finance, both in the executive branch and in Congress.

There’s the dad, Florencio “Butch” Abad, the former manager of the campaign of candidate Noynoy Aquino, now budget secretary-designate. This Abad was also a former Batanes congressman, former agrarian reform and formereducation secretary of the previous Arroyo administration, who joined other officials of that government in the figurative burning of their Cabinet cards that signaled their joining the so-called “Hyatt 10.”

Butch Abad attended high school, college and law school at Ateneo de Manila, the school du jour. He is the son of a five-time Liberal Party congressman from Batanes, the late Jorge Abad, and is president of the party that once counted his father as one of its members.

Butch’s father was also the Arroyo connection, having served as public works, transportation and communications secretary during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal in the early sixties. His mother, Aurora, also served as officer-in-charge governor and representative of Batanes.

Butch is married to the former Henedina Razon, who is currently the congressman of Batanes. Henedina was a former dean of the Ateneo School of Government (that school, again) who worked as a community organizer and NGO advocate; she had also served once before (2004-2007) as Batanes representative.

But Henedina, who defeated the incumbent Batanes congressman by a mere 35 votes in the elections last May, is not going to be just another backbencher in the soon-to-be-convened Congress. She is reportedly also set to become the vice chairman of the powerful House appropriations committee, which scrutinizes, approves or disapproves the national budget that her husband will submit in behalf of the entire executive branch.

Will the Abads’ pillow talk, once Mrs. Abad becomes the second-highest lawmaker on the appropriations panel, include budget matters and the executive’s need for Congress to approve Malacañang’s, the various departments’ and other state agencies’ proposed outlays? No one, except the parties involved, will know for certain.

If that’s not scary enough a situation, let’s move on to the Abads’ first-born, daughter Julia Andrea. Julia has been named, to the raising of many eyebrows, head of the Presidential Management Staff, which carries the rank of Cabinet secretary.

This means that Julia and his dad meet regularly, not over dinner as is the case in most families, but across the wide table with the mircophones where Cabinet meetings are held. The new administration has defended Julia’s appointment, saying she is a trusted and loyal aide, the same one who served for all the three years that Aquino stayed in the Senate.

Prior to that Senate gig, Julia worked at the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Now, as head of PMS, she will get to direct, among other duties, the disbursement of the President’s Social Fund, a stash of cash that has also been called the President’s very own pork barrel.

Will Julia be asking her dad’s advice on PSF disbursements, since he’s the budget secretary and also probably her mentor in public service? And will her mom be inclined to ask Julia about how the fund is disbursed, not only as part of her motherly responsibilities but also as a member of the branch of government that has oversight functions over the executive?

And will Luis Andres, the third child of the Abad couple, call to tell his parents that he will be late for the weekend family gathering because his boss still needs him at work? No matter, they will probably understand that the job of the chief of staff to the finance secretary will be very, very time-consuming.

He can always catch up with dad and sis at the next Cabinet meeting anyway. And as for mom, he will probably be able to squeeze in some quality time with her when the finance secretary presents his program for finding the money to fund the Aquino government’s programs.

* * *

The December 2003 submission of Butch Abad, when he was still serving the Arroyo administration, includes a list of relatives in government. The list shows that two siblings, four cousin and an in-law of the LP head were also serving in the government that year as mayor, district engineer, fiscal and employees of holding various positions in agencies as diverse as the municipal government of Ivana, Batanes, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Quezon City prosecutor’s office, Congress and the weather bureau.

Working in the government, it seems, is the career of choice for many Abads and their kin, in much the same way that some families are “into” music or journalism. And there is really nothing wrong with that, especially since many families have distinguished themselves by excelling in the field of civil service for generations.

But, as the leftist party-list group Bayan Muna pointed out, it is certainly “uncomfortable” to have four members of one single family in powerful positions that have to do with government finance. “I hope President Aquino broadens his field of candidates because there are other individuals who could do the job as well or even better,’’ said Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares.

Pere Abad sees nothing wrong with this situation, even if almost everyone else does. And the presidential spokesman dismissed in lawyer-like fashion the concerns about having too many Abads in the Aquino administration as “speculative”—whether he means that their appointments are speculative or the concerns are, we can’t really tell.

The defense used by the President’s spokesman is that the Abads’ competence and qualifications “speak for themselves.” Unfortunately, what President Aquino’s mouthpiece fails to understand is that, despite the loud volume of this family’s achievements, their work hasn’t been asked to speak in this case.

What’s really at issue here is the propriety of having three Abads in sensitive positions involving government finance in the executive department and a fourth in Congress’ appropriations committee, which should oversee the work of the first three. And that has nothing to do with the abilities, competence or even the integrity and honesty of these members of a prominent Batanes family.

Even the President’s absolute faith in the family is not an issue, when one delves into the matter of the propriety of their various appointments. No President can force anyone to serve in his official family, after all, despite his vast powers.

The only people who can really do something to remedy this situation are the Abads themselves, unless they truly find nothing wrong with what is surely an unusual and record-breaking situation. The family certainly knows what to do—unless they think that all four of them in high government office isn’t such a bad idea.

the big abad wolf

no doubt butch and julia and luis abad are all qualified for their new jobs.   but what keeps coming back to me is a campaign promise — can’t remember now if it was butch a. himself who said it or somebody else — that noynoy’s would be a different kind of presidency, supporters would not be expecting any payback in terms of juicy positions in government.   so talaga, i am so with juana change a.k.a. mae paner on the abad appointments.   one is enough, two is too much, three is over, as in grabe naman, wala na bang iba, lalo na’t the wife is also in the lower house?   ano ba yan, daig pa ang mga marcos at mga arroyo, na at least ay puro elected by the people.   or is that the point?   is this a different kind of dynasty building?   there are other ways of skinning a cat?   karirin na lang ang pagsipsip sa presidente?   okay lang ba ito sa sisters?   love na love lang talaga nila ang mga abad?   bad bad bad.   so nakakaalibadbad.