Local politics is very personal

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

THE season for personal politics – local elections – will officially take off on Friday. As in any local election, be it for a public office or a mere association affair, everything will be viewed in the personal context. No criticism will ever be deemed constructive. Even family relationships, whether by blood or by affinity, don’t matter. There is only one unwritten law in Pinoy politics today- “Tirahin mo ako, tirahin kita!”

But it amuses me no end how closely knit political allies today emerge tomorrow as mortal enemies in the next election, and arch rivals in the previous election demonstrate fondness for each other in the next election like nothing ever came between them. Only in the Philippines.

But perhaps the most tragic political culture in our midst is when relatives would think nothing of eliminating each other literally.  The most violent in recent memory is the Maguindanao massacre yet many communities are not strangers to such situations.

Killing has become part and parcel of local politics because everything about it is deemed as very personal to candidates.

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But why do these happen with us in these civilized times? Is it about power?  The privileges? The honor or shame? It’s about all that and more.

It’s really more about money. The prospect of not being able to recover money used in the campaign and the lost opportunity to earn a lucrative return on the campaign expenses if the candidate doesn’t win are enough to make all members of a candidate’s family to go bloody berserk.

It’s a classic case of the ends justifying the means.

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SOCIAL EVILS OF FISH PENS. Shortly after typhoon Ondoy wrought havoc that led to unprecedented levels of flooding in Metro Manila and communities around Laguna de Bay, then DENR Sec. Lito Atienza ordered a zero fish pens policy in Laguna lake after the fish pens and fish cages were identified as the greatest contributor to the massive flooding.

But even after Mr. Atienza valiantly crossed swords with the Association of Laguna Lake Fish Producers and Fisher Folks Inc. who quickly castigated him for ordering the immediate dismantling of all the fish pens in the lake, our DENR and local governments acted like they heard and saw nothing. They allowed the fish pen operators, both legally registered and illegal, to restore their fish pens, expanding beyond their original perimeters.

The frantic plea, therefore, of the group led by balikbayan Alfredo Dawana, is in fact an indictment of the inaction of not only the Dagupan City officials and the City Environment and Natural Resources Officer but of all towns that host or tolerate the proliferation of fish pens.

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To justify his newfound courage, Mr. Atienza said the government would look into the plight of the “real fishermen” who over the years have been deprived by the fish pen operators. He intended to make the zero fish pens policy benefit the real marginalized fishermen because they can begin to fish without any obstacles. In retrospect, he echoed the plight of Mr. Dawana’s group today.

Curiously, however, Mr. Atienza, like the Dagupan City agriculturist, also promised to make the list of illegal fish pen operators public but this never happened. It seems, just like the jueteng operators everywhere, the fish pen operators have already completely co-opted all concerned local and agency officials.  The continued inaction of the officials can only mean one thing – a lot of money have been stuffed in their pockets to effectively render them inutile.

The deafening silencing of the corrupt officials became more telling with the release of new studies affirming the destructive nature of the fish pen operations, causing flooding and fish kills. Yet, they still do nothing.

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SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IS NOW A CRIME? The latest brouhaha about Arnel Pineda’s rendition of the national anthem at the Pacquiao-Clottey fight has brought something to light – according to the National Historical Institute, singing the national anthem with fervor can land you in jail.  Note the word “fervor”.

The talibans in NHI have always been quick on the draw to indict Pacquiao’s chosen singers for going out of tune (by NHI’s standard) threatening them with one-year imprisonment!  In fact, NHI already submitted its findings for Martin Nievera to be charged in court, notwithstanding the latter’s public apology, for doing his number a la Johnny Mathis.

NHI insists the law is very clear about it. Is it?  Section 36 of RA 8491 only has the full lyrics of Lupang Hinirang yet no musical notes appear in any section in the law that would precisely guide a grade school kid or Martin Nievera on how to sing it.  Section 37, only reads: “The rendition of the National Anthem, whether played or sung shall be in accordance with the musical arrangement and composition of Julian Felipe”. Since our schools don’t have the original arrangement to teach and not everyone reads musical notes, NHI warns we are all liable to commit a crime!

But here’s what NHI is mum about: A sentence in Section 38 reads: “The singing must be done with fervor”.  I thought that was exactly what Pineda and Nievera did – singing it with fervor! For singing with fervor, NHI insists we can land in jail!

But here’s the final rub. The NHI obviously relishes intimidating our citizenry because it lies to us.  Section 39 only states that failure to observe the rules for the rendition of the national anthem “is ground for administrative discipline” not a year in jail! Jail sentence is for habitual offenders convicted by the court!

No wonder our people are a mixed up lot with our history and culture. NHI can’t even discern what our laws cover.

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