Beyond dissent, its participation that strengthens democracy
LOOKING back at the last two decades, it’s clear that today’s political opposition and the Manila elites that support them have tried to impose on us the thought that everyone must bow to their way of seeing things and their desired outcomes.
Failing this, instability is often warned. Walk through history and see that coup attempts and destabilization threats against all established governments are part of this narrative we have long been programmed to drink in.
Sadly, over the years while these noisemakers kept getting our attention high levels of economic inequality persisted despite high GDP growth.
The much hoped for reduction of poverty under six PNoy years barely moved us a to 21% while Indonesia and Thailand are now at 10% and Malaysia is at 0.6%. (https://www.adb.org/ sites/default/files/publication/298061/ basic-statistics-2017.pdf)
Nowhere was this neglect and poverty felt so acutely as in Mindanao, so much that chronic conflict has bred political isolation that created groups like ISIS-inspired Maute bandits.
This inequality and political disenfranchisement deadens democracy, since significant parts of the polity remain unheard. Whatever dissent or participation is lost when there is such a high number of poor and disenfranchised in any society. Their ability to participate is diminished, creating possible unrest.
Sadly, the vanguards of this class that include the opposition members of today’s Congress mouth slogans that feed a noisy minority and inspire manufactured chaos, falsely programming us to think that this, and the noise it makes, constitutes democracy.
Curiously, they avoid commenting on positive government programs that have earned public praise, such as the extended drivers license and passport validities, more efficient permit applications, the infrastructure programs, and the consistent GDP performance forecast by ratings agencies to improve further.
Thus, this noisy minority of today is unable to meaningfully engage government, yet desires political control, and wants us to feel bad they lost it. Preferring personalistic commentary over substance, discourse is dumbed down. Their frustration in being unable to determine political outcomes is where much of the political noise comes from, feeding intrigue that helps biased media outlets and fake news sites make their money.
This turns democracy into elite intramurals that have little bearing on the lives of the excluded. Worse, many of these elites and their agents try to silence voices on the now larger arena called social media, with their trolls insulting those expressing grievance and hijacking them to spread lies and gossip.
They will try, but fail to stifle this channel that has grown because it has fostered the ability of a greater number to react and advocate for results in governance in ways that their old media channels failed to do – be the their voice. In other words social media gave them the chance to participate.
Let us not be duped to think that these poorly executed maneuverings gain political ground for this minority. The results of such are clear: Surveys made long after the new governments assumption show that their influence among Filipinos has stayed at the same low as 2016.
To add, the trust and satisfaction ratings of their champions remain flat, the tragic failure is their inability to get more than their partisans to believe the same things they do.
The victory of the new government in 2016 is in great part due to this larger participation, where the bigger mass of people themselves spread the message and snowballed the campaign. Social media enabled them to rise above political operators.
The continued trust and popularity the President enjoys we attribute to a greater level of political engagement for a higher number of Filipinos. This new crop of participants kicked out the previous government, demand change and will keep demanding it, and know that the President can deliver.
The lesson is that it takes more than dissent to make a democracy. It is the participation, especially of the once excluded that does. Participation enables inclusion, secures their consent, and delivers results.
This was the feature in the Greek city states that gave democracy its name, making it a principle for everyone, not just the royalty or nobility, to be part of processes that enable political rule and decision making. While dissent mattered to create choice, it was secondary to the fact that it was the many, and not the elite, that ruled.
In this way, the voice of the minority is recognized. The spectrum of ideas, however dissonant, forms part of the body politic, and rarely seeks redress out of the simple yet formal mechanisms. With this, everyone moves forward; democracy is secure.
It is not mere dissent and the noise of a few, but the ability of all, not just the political elite to participate in such processes and move forward despite differences, and demand performance that form the basic foundations of democracy. This is what keeps a democracy stable and successful.
Congratulations to the Coffee and Organic Agri Congress
Congratulations to the successful holding of the National Coffee Congres in Davao and the National Organic Agriculture Congress (NOAC) in Cagayan de Oro.
May this be the start of a renewed drive to produce more locally grown coffee and meet our own country’s demand while strengthening our farmers in the process.
The NOAC is one of the platforms for the development of and promotion of organic agriculture (OA) in the Philippines contained in Republic Act No. 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010.
With higher productivity over the last year, and 95% rice self suffiiency achieved we may see our agricultural sector achieve a renaissance. This, in turn, strengthens rural incomes and our farmers. For reactions: