The 2019 election now beckons

We are at least seven months away from election day with certificates of candidacy still to be filed, yet the signs of the coming election are already palpable.

In my hometown, I already see the names and pictures of politicians who never before took interest in our local affairs and who now signal their presence and concern for us. “Pagpapakilala” is how we politely call these early insensitive efforts.

Both the administration and the opposition parties have already “floated” their lists of potential candidates, thus inviting public response that would show who among them are “winnable.” The obvious early favorites, of course, are those with established name-recall capability or who appear in both the administration and opposition listings.

The media, as usual, have enthusiastically responded by highlighting the early survey results. I can only wonder what it takes to prominently figure in these early surveys and media coverage, and how credible and accurate these results really are.

But the sure indicators that an election is coming are the developing “skirmishes” between the administration and the opposition on the issues they unfold before the voting public.

The political opposition early on bannered the Trillanes arrest issue as the oppressive hallmark of the present administration. As far as I can see, the Senator’s plight has not generated widespread public response. Known for his own eccentric ways, Senator Trillanes – as a victim – hardly elicits sympathy.

Even the weather failed to cooperate with the Trillanes issue as typhoon Ompong and its fury took over before the issue could fully take off. Thus, it now lies half-buried in the mudslides that Ompong wrought. It may yet dig itself up, though, depending on future administration handling and court rulings.

Another opposition issue that is fast receding from public consciousness is the country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Like the Trillanes issue, this issue can still be resuscitated by future developments. The coming Supreme Court oral arguments and ruling on the validity of the withdrawal may yet hog future headlines and arouse feelings affecting the coming election.

Side by side with the ICC issue, the opposition has given a new face to existing human rights issues by bringing in a new tribunal – the International People’s Court – for added local and international pressure in the human rights front. The media, of course, have lent their clout, but without telling results so far.

Ironically, the issues that would not go away are the gut issues that require little or no media publicity to reach the public. They are the declining buying power of the peso and the scarcity of rice at affordable prices in the market. “It’s the economy, stupid” as this issue was framed in an earlier American election.

These days, very few households are unaware of the scarcity of rice and its escalating cost. Many know, too, that despite administration efforts, the situation is deteriorating rather than improving. In these developments can be found the “killer” issues that might decide the elections if they would persist till election day.

With issues such as these, we can only look forward to further and perhaps, more bitter, skirmishes that will not only serve as attention/vote getters, but frontal assaults as well on opposition personalities whose vulnerability may affect the opposition’s capability to do battle.

Under this category fall the PDAF and the DAP cases that have long been in hibernation. These are the pork barrel-related and public funddipping cases that have become the high points in perversity of the past Aquino administration.

The PDAF cases – that involve lawmakers who dipped into public funds through the pork barrel fund manipulation – have made some progress as shown by the cases brought against some lawmakers. Governmental efforts though do not appear to have been thorough and have been alleged to be uneven.

The DAP scandal is another opposition weak point where prosecutors – past and present – appear to have slept on their watch. No less than the Supreme Court has highlighted in its constitutional ruling the potential criminal liability that may await those involved.

For example, the court’s findings of illegal and unconstitutional transfers to the Legislature and the Commission on Audit, of funds appropriated for the Executive Branch, are too clear to be missed. Even law freshmen know that such transfers involve criminally actionable acts that can only be defeated, at inception, by prescription, i.e., by the lapse of time due to government inaction.

The existence of the court’s findings has prompted some of the knowledgeable to privately ask: Is the present administration really disregarding this issue, or is it just waiting for the opportune time to act?

In whatever way the participating parties may handle the coming electoral exercise, the nation can only hope that this election shall be clean and free from questions of legitimacy that marked the 2016 elections.

The Marcos-Robredo protest case, in particular, is a sad note for both our electoral system and the Supreme Court. It is not the only case, in fact, that lingered at the Supreme Court despite its urgency and potential adverse effect on the nation. The Court dilly-dallied on the 2010 Roxas-Binay vice-presidential protest case for almost one whole vice-presidential term before laying it to rest.

We should now realize that our computerized voting system is vulnerable; its results may not always give us the people’s real choice. Our system of resolving presidential and vice-presidential election disputes is also a joke that does not need to be told to be funny. I can only pray that the joke will not ultimately be on us, the Filipino people.

Beyond the current and developing issues, the electorate should likewise carefully try to discern the real stakes in the coming election. This election, though characterized as a mid-term election, goes beyond the choice of our future leaders. It might very well be the Rubicon that would signal how the nation shall govern itself or be governed in the future.