why this election matters

in this election, the cliche becomes the alarming truth. election after every election in the philippines, talking heads always make it a point to say that this is the most important one in our lifetime. that it would redefine how we live, how we relate to our neighbors and potentially change the fortunes of millions of people for better or for worse.

2010 whether we like it might be our last chance to finally make it on board the latest and strongest wave of Asian economic revolutions. furthermore, the passing of 10 years of uninhibited and shameless greed might have spared the elite and the upper middle class with an economic implosion, but it has left the poor much more destitute than they ever were. something that doesn't mix well with our being part of the region's ascendancy as the new epicenter of world economic power.

this is validated by every survey done by either the Social Weather Station or Pulse Asia where those at the bottom of the food chain consistently describe themselves as much poorer and much hungrier than ever before. the creation of this massive underclass, angry and desperate doesn't bode well for a country trying to recover from a family's greed. it would make it a lot harder for the new president to manage an economy that has been effective divided into two distinct jurisdictions. one for the wealthy and one for the very poor. the new president will also have to grapple with a stunning budget deficit left by this irresponsible arroyo regime as a political measure to keep the economy artificially growing despite the lack of real industrial, commercial or agricultural productivity. all these factors create the perfect condition for a sudden and explosive social upheaval.

like here in the United States where the depth of this dark and nasty recession hasn't been anticipated by anyone long before it happened, the next philippine president faces a poverty problem that has been in evolution for at least 40 years. chronic and deeply insidious, this problem defies unimaginative solutions. villar's sloganeering and pathetic pandering to the poor reminds us of past campaigns that targeted this vulnerable sector as a reliable electoral tool. villar, once dirt poor, has a cute and charming story that inspires the teleserye crowd. but the presidency is more than botox-type image engineering in solving the country's problems. it takes more than a slew of commercials to hide what's behind the glitzy campaign, a dearth of ideas.

and the two leading candidates, while both declared oppositionists to arroyo, have very different backgrounds as they present themselves to the people. villar presents himself as the candidate of the poor on the basis of his having come from that side of the hood. aquino on the other hand, belongs to perhaps the most remarkable if not the most loved family in the country. to say that the aquinos are the philippines' answer to america's kennedys would perhaps be too presumptuous for the kennedys. the political orientation of these two men are quite a departure from each other as well. aquino aligns himself with the socially progressive groups that espouse policy in tune with the left of center. villar on the other hand, while having been successful in wooing some important characters from the Left, can only be described as a centrist, if at all. his past advocacies and policies have too much straddling between social philosophies that it is hard to decipher who villar really is.

well the answer is simple, he's none of these. in his political statements, he never showed any consistency of political and social purpose. his actions were dictated by what the times called for. like impeaching estrada, a supposed ally of his at that time, when public sympathy showed that that was the expedient thing to do. and in every senate investigation when he took its reins, villar clearly read the surveys everyday and conveniently acted accordingly.

now he is pandering to the poor. agitating the poor's sentiments against the government that for almost 20 years he helped craft and form policy. mindful of his billions' power in obtaining the presidency, he gives away houses and lots, tricycles and jeepneys in noontime shows with his poorly botoxed face in an act that can only be described as quintessentially filipino, dole out politics. and he makes no qualms too in declaring that he's using his own money. to say that villar is buying his way into malacanang is an understatement. how he will reap the profits of this massive investment into this campaign for the presidency, only the wisest deity would really know.

of course, aquino is not necessarily a mendicant either. he is the scion of an old and legendary political and economic clan. his existence is the perfect specimen of the marriage between politics and old money. his candidacy brings back pictures of the of the marcos-aquino divide that consumed the nation's energy for decades. questions on his sincerity about social reform appears in the backdrop of his family's feudal character. the hacienda luisita question still begs to be answered.

but despite all these, conrado de quiros' assertion of this election as being between good and evil becomes the title of this election's teleserye. the necessity of picking an honest and competent president whose character is capable of personal sacrifice instead of personal gain cannot be overemphasized. we need a leader who will not sell a part of our soul to our foreign partners as we seek our own place in the emerging world order in the Far East. villar's persistent involvement in his vast empire gives the term conflict of interest a whole new watered down definition. how a leader like him can broker well for our country and allow his businesses to take a back seat as he governs is indeed a very difficult task. villar never parted with his businesses when he was a congressman, speaker, senator, and senate president. and he won't start doing it now.

if villar wins therefore, our country will be mired again by a government that has lost all the trust that it needs to move forward the grand vision of re-building a great country. not when there are investigations left and right and a persistent instability brought about by a restless and suspicious public.

corruption must end. there's got to be a plan out there that would at least aim to drastically curb stealing other people's money. corruption not only weakens our economy, it hinders the country from fully participating in the greatest economic drama since america's surge as the leading economic power of the 20th century. if we let china's ascent scare us more than be inspired by its tremendous leap forward and be on-board the drive towards ultra-modernity, then we would have missed out once again as we did in the 60s and 70s. given the porousness of our nation's borders, goods, services and even human labor will be exchanged at levels never before seen in the world economy. the philippines should benefit immensely from this given our strategic position in the center of the southeast asian basin.

the next president's view (or the lack of it) of all these massive changes will determine who will be able to maximize the benefits of a resurgent chinese economy. it will certainly involve a resurgent japan and south korea, and the rest of southeast asia will be awash with direct investments.

we just can't afford another costly mistake at the polls anymore. it's now or never for the philippines.instead of the security threat that china has always been perceived to be in the philippines, it now presents as a giant opportunity for the philippines and for the region in creating prosperity never before seen in this scale and breadth. choosing which leader to negotiate for us will therefore determine the philippines' rising role in the Asia-Pacific.

now more that ever, our nation's fate is dependent on the economic prosperity of our neigboring China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and even Singapore. The continuing decline of the US vis-a-vis the Far East tells us of s rapidly shifting balance of economic power. in 2008, china overtook japan as the world's 2nd largest economy. in 2015, china will do the same with the US.

We would therefore require an outward-looking, honest and competent leader with no conflicting interests as he or she deals with infrastructures, joint ventures and human power exchange programs. in other words, we need an honest advocate in negotiating the terms of our country's future.

of course, he can't be selling his land with malls on the side as the site of his first bullet train project can't he?