Opinion#Rasul#Halalan2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If they all ran, it would be extremely entertaining to listen to Lucifer debate Alfredo Tindugan, who will run a “divine government” if elected. Add to that the lady (I forgot her name) who, when interviewed, said God whispered that she should run.

 

It’s obvious to me that our citizens have come to the conclusion that no one needs to prepare or have a political party to run in our elections.

After all, as of this writing, we have a party with three vice-presidential candidates and no presidential aspirant, a group beseeching their man to run for president even as he has said “no” a number of times. We have a party that had to court their desired vice-presidential candidate’s daughter. We have independent candidates for the Senate, each hoping to be adopted by a major party.

Lucifer and Tindugan must have thought -- why (the hell/in heaven’s name) should I not run?

Time was when parties fully committed to the process, organizing their provincial leaders to rally behind the flag. Time was when political parties actually went thru the process of convening an assembly of their national and local leaders to select their standard bearer (even if the process was more for show). Time was when political parties at least tried to have a governance agenda.

No more. Political parties support movie stars, reluctant family members of deceased popular leaders, eager relatives of sitting political leaders. Let’s not forget members of the lunatic fringe and angry leaders with an axe to grind.

Social media is abuzz with commentaries of ordinary citizens, either amused or aghast at the turn of events. Well, we all need a chuckle before the mud-slinging and dirty politics begin.

I choose to be hopeful. Perhaps our citizens will finally come together and choose to make their leaders stop the circus that our politics has become.

Certainly civil society has a great number of initiatives for governance and political reform (excluding the ones that were set up to gather troops behind a political leader, of course. Sneaky, sneaky.) Perhaps now is the time for citizens and church/mosque and business sector to come together and pressure political leaders to return to the roots of the political party system.

Perhaps now is the time to start thinking of a different political system that will provide citizens from all regions a real say in governance. Perhaps we should start thinking seriously of a federal system, which provides power to all provinces, cities, and communities outside of Imperial Manila.

Just think of the situation of indigenous peoples and the Bangsamoro.

Together, we are at least 15% of Philippine population. But we are not represented in the Executive, the Senate, or the Supreme Court.

Yasmin Lao is the highest-ranking Muslim but leads only an organization that caters to Muslims -- the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos. There is no Muslim or a member of an indigenous people (IP) in the Supreme Court. The last one was the late Justice Abdulwahid Bidin. I can’t help but think that the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain would not have been rejected in 2008 if there had been a Muslim justice. A Muslim justice would have been a major resource, a font of knowledge, on issues relevant to ancestral domain and the peace process.

There is no Muslim or IP in the Senate -- the last one was my mother, Senator Santanina T. Rasul. No wonder our Senate in the dark about the plight and the issues of the Muslims or IPs of this country.

Listening to their discussions on Mamasapano and on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, it is clear there is no one there to shed light on our situation or advocate for our rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. Our senators see us only as irritating appendages of the main body politic.

If we had political parties rooted in the entire country, it would be incumbent on our national political leaders to seek representatives from the IP and Muslim communities and groom them for national office. As they did in the past. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. Today, one is invited to be part of a senatorial slate like one gets invited to a party.

When I ran for the Senate under the late Fernando Poe Jr., I knew that it was my “Impossible Dream.” But FPJ was the front-runner by a mile.

Even the Muslim leaders who were with then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo advised me to run with FPJ, saying that I would be in the best position to advise government on our concerns when he won. Well, FPJ was cheated and lost the elections. But running with FPJ was worth it. He was a man of integrity with mass appeal. Thousands of FPJ believers would line the streets as our caravans passed thru towns. Thru him, I was able to reach out to the masses about peace in Mindanao resulting to peace and progress for the entire nation. For this, I will always be grateful.

After he lost, I made up my mind to work with civil society and help reform our political and electoral system and build a nation that would welcome diversity. After all, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. However, our cultural communities are rarely heard over the cacophony of political rhetoric and barrage of gunfire. I resolved to work with our Mindanao communities and help amplify their voices, in the democratic arena. It is extremely slow going.

So am I running? No, dear readers, I am not. My work is far from complete. Instead, I will be more than willing to provide policy advise to candidates who choose to be educated on Mindanao, on the peace process and autonomy, on how to build a nation that is strong in its diversity. I will work with National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections and Legal Network for Truthful Elections to help ensure a credible election. The greatest risk to the country and the economy is the integrity of the elections. Not who will win, but that whoever is proclaimed will lack legitimacy.

Besides, I plead mental and financial health. In other words, one has to be crazy to run on empty.

 

Amina Rasul is a democracy, peace and human rights advocate, and president of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy. Surveil is her column in BusinessWorld.