Political horse-trading not signs of change

The alliances the Liberal Party of President Aquino has been striking with any other party that cares to is the clearest indication yet that nothing has changed for the better in this country despite pronouncements to the contrary by Aquino himself.

Aquino cannot go big against corruption while leading the political horse- trading so intricately woven into the fabric of the single biggest problem the nation faces along with the corruption he claims to be fighting without looking like the man who farted in secret.

For example, why for should the Liberal Party strike an alliance with the local party Bakud of the Duranos, or at least a faction of that family, if not to strengthen its political interests in the coming election.

Bakud, for its part, cannot claim alignment of principles with the straight and narrow path loudly proclaimed by the Liberal Party without inviting questions about the principles that anchored its previous alliances.

If Bakud claims it has allied with the Liberal Party because it now shares the same principles the Liberals espouse, do we take it to mean that for so long it moved along on the wrong and contrary set of principles?

Now why would the Liberal Party saddle up to a party like that if it is to remain true to its avowed principle of pursuing the straight and narrow path? The only way out of this dilemma is for either or both parties to leave principle out of the alliance and tell it like it is.

Frankly speaking, the One Cebu party from which Bakud bolted and against which the Liberal Party is positioned, for no larger reason than to wrest control of the Capitol, had a clearly defined principle that worked apart from its politics.

For as long as it was practical, One Cebu as a party and Cebu itself as a province were undistinguishable from each other. For as long as it took that Governor Gwen Garcia was firmly in control, Cebu moved forward in ways others never thought possible.

But Garcia is still defined by term limits. And limits will always mean a loosening of grips, making it inevitable for links in the chain that held Cebu together in unity to let go. How sad that political interests must also define the limits of Cebu’s unity.

I will not call it treachery because it probably is not. But for a local party like Bakud to drop the one thing that kept Cebuano interests going in favor of the national interests of a national party is, to me, like a snake eating itself up from the tail. I say this because, as most political experts agree, all politics is local. While it is in the nature of national parties to strike alliances with local parties, local parties should not agree to do so at the expense of local interests.

I cannot see where the Liberal Party can contribute to Bakud’s welfare other than in the area of political interests. The Liberal Party, not even with Aquino in Malacañang, can put in place the same unity of purpose and direction that Cebu saw, and gained so much from.

Oh sure, Garcia had to politically gain from One Cebu. But the one thing that cannot be said is that she did not work for whatever she achieved for herself. Gwen will rise and fall on her own merits. What I did not expect is for Cebuano unity to fall on political expediency.

I feel sad for those who truly believed the Liberal Party can act as an agent of change with Aquino on the saddle, only to find it just like any other party, bent on gobbling up other parties for purposes of strength rather than principles. So what change are we talking about?

‘ I feel sad for those who truly believed the Liberal Party can act as an agent of change with Aquino on the saddle, only to find it just like any other party, bent on gobbling up other parties for purposes of strength rather than principles.’