COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRACY

“Reality is merely an illusion; albeit a very persistent one,”, quoted by Albert Einstein. Philippines went through the hands of different vanquisher from Spaniards, to Japanese and to Americans. We transitioned from a dictatorship to a democratic country filled with incredible human and natural resources.

Democracy in the Philippines is a paradox. Nowadays, the republic is slowly bustling its way to an emerging country despite the gloomy global economic landscape because the mood of our nation is always so buoyant and in high optimism level.

But this growth that we are trying to reach is constrained because of being affected of inefficient governance. Corruption, as an example, is consistently cited and probably the main problem underlying the slow progress of the Philippines. Corruption is a cancer that east away what good is remaining in the government. The incumbent administration of Aquino tried to combat graft and corruption so that we can experience notable progress.

Reducing corruption, both within and outside of the government can lead to a substantially increased economic competitiveness and promoting higher level of domestic and foreign investments making us a promising nation with trusted officials.

However, we tend to relate democracy to politicians, those people who gives us a different picture of the Philippines for the better. This leads us to a misguided belief that we need someone in the politics to address all of the issues and flaws, which suggest that true representation is merely a large illusory. Concerns about democracy have become the central point of political discourse and yet none has made it clear on how they shall do it.

For the past decades, Filipinos heard promises of freedom, prosperity and peace but it was never realized. The country’s boundaries continue to be agonized by insurgency and havoc.  We experience political dynasties that have ruthlessly carved up the country and used their power for their own benefit, forgetting that they are where they are because of the votes of the people.

Poverty and unemployed are still in double-digit and is increasing every now and then; we have a lot of graduates but a very few places for them to practice their profession which now leads to our fellowmen to work abroad; hoping to create a better future for themselves. As long as corruption is evident, progress can never be achieved.

It is difficult to retain our faith that Philippines’ will be a fully democratic country without feeling the need to rebuild its foundations by opting for political outsiders or offspring of former leaders or dictators. We are still experiencing a democratic fatigue with further punishments because of the ballots.

Rural areas are not doing any better, too. Years and years of being promised to have their own land, ‘til now, farmers do not have a farm that they call their own. To take note that nowhere in Asia has produced more plans for land reforms than the Philippines, but to no avail, it is trickling down.

Infrastructure is no less daunting as we can hear news of residents from Manila had to bear the daily struggle of commuting to and fro the office and to always be in the middle of the worst traffic jam on earth. What has the government been doing to resolve this?

I, as a Filipino, have all the right to be angry and disappointed with those who ruled in the government because if we look really closely, the real reason of the Philippines inability to develop is lack of democracy and a decaying democratic institution.

Democracy sets a real and clear strategic direction; but these are not enough because it needs to be initiated and substantiated with an equally clear set of strategic priorities. Each of these priorities should have a time table and targets of performance every year. In this manner, we can be able to bring democracy back to its ideal heights. Democracy does not happen overnight, it imposes a concrete, specific and time-bounded discipline of performance.

Furthermore, the deep-seated corruption, bad governance and flawed civic culture should be confronted: the roots must be uprooted. We can do this by constantly nurturing a culture of good governance and responsible citizenship. After all, democracy is by the people, for the people and of the people.