The Tragedy of the Pinoy Middle-Class

While most media outlets chose to highlight Pulse Asia's findings showing that 3 out of 10 Filipinos would choose to migrate abroad, I would like to discuss their other major finding showing that 82% of Filipinos acknowledge oligarchic hegemony in Philippine politics. In their latest July 2006 survey, Pulse Asia found that 41% of those surveyed say that the Philippines is controlled by a powerful few and ordinary citizens cannot do anything about this situation. They also found that "an equal number of people (41%) is unable to agree or disagree with this view and vacillates regarding the existence of oligarchic rule. Belief that a powerful few runs the country is strongest in Metro Manila (55%) and weakest in the Visayas (35%). Levels of public indecision, on the other hand, are generally constant across the country’s geographic areas and socioeconomic classes. The rest of the nation – a rather small proportion at 17% -- disagree that the country is controlled by a powerful few."

This fact that the Philippines is being ruled by the "well-born" is already old news to most Filipinos, although most may not have a concrete idea why this is so. So allow me, as someone who experienced up close the inner workings and internal dynamics in our political parties, amplify on this "oligarchy rule" phenomenon.

Under the current Philippine political set-up, a person with no "political pedigree" and resources (like me for example) has no chance of getting elected in Congress. Just to run for Congress, one needs to personally raise at least P15 million for his "warchest." And P15 million is just the bare minimum. It still would not ensure a congressional aspirant a convincing electoral victory. Running for public office therefore, remains a rich man's world. It always has been and it looks like it will always be that way.

Descendants of prominent politicians have a built-in advantage because of the "goodwill" their ancestors have built for them and in terms of name-recall. Which is I guess par for the course: a good lawyer or doctor would be leaving a large number of satisfied "customers" whom a son or daughter who decide to take up law or medicine can inherit later on. But Filipinos are different because they are easily awed by a familiar political name. People nowadays do not really examine a politician's credentials or listen to their platforms and policy advocacies. Speeches are dismissed as empty rhetoric and candidates can make a better crowd impression by dancing or singing on stage (Pinoys, being a musical people, put a high premium on a good singing voice). Nor are people impressed by academic credentials and sophistry anymore. Nowadays, in order to generate "goodwill" and make people take you seriously, one has to spend money on projects (medical missions, goodies and dole outs) and/or PR.

So what can a politically ambitious young man without a "political family name," financial resources and network do to become a congressman? The easiest route, if one has the looks, talent and brains, is to become a celebrity: a movie star or a newscaster. One can also join Akbayan or Bayan Muna or any of the party list groups. But not everyone is blessed with good looks, a deep TV/radio voice or a nice singing voice. Also, joining the Akbayan or Bayan Muna is problematic because they pretty much have an established seniority list and besides, one would have at least been jailed by Marcos to become a senior party member.

The usual route taken by persons harboring political ambitions is to join the "mainstream" political parties like LAKAS, NPC, LDP or the Liberal Party and become an active and loyal party member. By campaigning and making oneself "available" during elections, a person can earn "pogi" points with party elders. If the party candidate wins, one can get appointed to a government post that one can use as a "platform" for his own media projection and "fund-raising" activities. Of course, since government positions are limited, not all campaign workers can be granted a post. And it should be pointed out that government appointments are not just handed out to anybody like candy: one has to do something "extraordinary" to get noticed by a politician enough to merit a lucrative government posting. Most of the time, party operatives are largely left to themselves after elections, to be "reactivated" one year before elections. In the interim, party members find work elsewhere as private sector employees, small-time businessmen, or worse as influence-peddlers.

In other countries, a loyal party man can rise through the ranks and eventually get nominated to a party seat in Congress if he plays his cards right. In our country, one has to get elected congressman FIRST before he can become a high-ranking party official and not the other way around. Under the current Philippine party set-up, the chances of someone without pedigree and money getting nominated to Congress is practically nil. I have yet to hear of a loyal, long-serving party man or a simple political officer who was funded and supported by a party to Congress. The only political operatives I know who have managed to get themselves elected were the children of politicians themselves and their election is more because of their family’s resources than their party’s backing.

Of course, many poor but talented individuals get elected as councilors and even as provincial board members. Some exceptionally talented ones even get elected as mayors and governors. But by far, becoming a mayor or governor is very difficult for Filipinos with no money and pedigree and those who do succeed are more the exception than the rule.

Some Charter Change advocates have used this as an argument in changing our form of government from presidential to parliamentary. They argue that under the parliamentary system, ordinary citizens will have a greater chance of rising in the system. Political parties will also have a bigger chance of becoming “professionalized.” Under this system, talented party members who have no political pedigree or financial resources would supposedly have a better chance of landing a government post because it is the party who will choose and shoulder their campaign expenses.

The current political system in the Philippines is not only oligarchic but has also become incestuous, what with the well-born marrying into each other (read the book "The Ties That Bind"). The Filipino middle-class, whom people look up to to provide reform-oriented leadership and "new blood," has become silent and inward-looking. Many choose not to become directly involved in politics, choosing to fund a scholarship foundation here, a feeding program there, and so on. Of course, there are many gifted and qualified middle-class professionals out there who would love to become Congressmen. But the problem is that they neither have the money (or if they do, they would rather spend their hard-earned money on themselves) nor the inclination for the rough-and-tumble of politics. In fact, just the thought of singing and dancing for complete strangers puts them off. The irony of it all is that the political elite never seems to have qualms about "humiliating" themselves in front of the public. As my friend who is a mayor once said, "it is easy for these sosyal, civil-society types to bitch about what is wrong in our country but they themselves do not have the guts to put their names on a ballot."

The sad thing about the Filipino middle-class is that they know very well what is wrong and what should be done to correct the ills of our country but they choose to withdraw in their enclaves or migrate to Sydney, New Jersey or Toronto. This, to me, is the tragedy of the Pinoy middle class (to borrow a line from the movie "Havana").