Clinging to power by taking both sides of every issue
It has been discussed in previous columns about the sheer uselessness of political parties in the Philippines. With allegiances and coalitions shifting with every election, there is no telling what side of an issue any one party is on. Depending on whoever has the most votes or is the most popular, that's what dictates their principles.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word principle as: a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption; or the laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device; or an underlying faculty or endowment. The fact that a principle is a fundamental base to a specific belief makes it more than obvious that, with the way political parties shift in the wind, all political parties are absent of principle – making them nothing more than superficial labels.
Following the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, there is one party that is making its game very obvious, but trying to play it off as "principled."
With the president's PDP-Laban party in control, politicians have changed parties and declared coalitions in droves, all in a matter of "being with the in-crowd." The Liberal Party (LP), the party that arrogantly stood behind their yellow ribbons while President Benigno S. Aquino III was at the helm, met a quandary on deciding how to move forward. Considering sticking with "principle" is not a matter in local politics, there was a majority that jumped to PDP-Laban, despite opposition during the campaign and promoting former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the LP declared, "We commit our organization in supporting the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte."
There are also the hold-outs, the so-called "Legitimate 8" that are standing as LP in the minority.
From the outside, it may seem this minority bloc is "standing strong" in their party and refusing to stand with the Duterte administration for the sake of their "principle."
When in all reality, it's merely an elaborate scheme for the party to try to take the reins by playing both sides. From 2016 to 2019, the majority of the LP will play nice with the president and his party, the nonstop nodding of heads, mimicking a bobblehead. Once that opposition ticket is established to counter Duterte's ticket for the 2019 midterm elections, the party will wait to see how the house and senate shape-up to do another renovation of principles.
Opposition victory in 2019
If the tide turns against the Duterte administration and the LP comes into the senate as a successful opposition bloc, with party insiders projecting Roxas making a run to return to the senate, coupled with Senator Bam Aquino seeking re-election, they believe that is enough name recognition to put them back in the driver's seat.
If they are successful, the members of the LP that joined in coalition will be back with their yellow ribbons declaring victory for values they claim to have and leave behind their three years of being a PDP-Laban ally. For those that officially switched parties, fairly certain most will be filing new party registration all over again.
The way politicians switch parties would be equivalent to somebody switching their name annual to whatever is listed as the "Most Popular Baby Name" of the year.
In the end, the party will be united in opposition, after playing nice for the first half of the Duterte administration.
PDP-Laban mandate in 2019
If PDP-Laban and their allies remain in supermajorities, then the current set up remains as is, with the LP in coalition with the party in power. Most likely, the numbers among the "Legitimate 8" will either remain the same or dwindle – for local politicians, "principles" can only be held for a certain period of time before the desire to be with the majority becomes too overwhelming.
In either scenario, the party considers themselves a success story.
Empty haughtiness
Politicians are incredible animals; they pride themselves on being in the majority, whether by being legitimately elected with a mandate, switching parties every cycle, or joining a new coalition every time the majority bloc changes. Where exactly is the pride in being that superficial and lacking in core values?
Beyond that, how does a party retain any legitimacy when they take such shallow attempts at posturing and use it as a method of trying to stay in power?
Of course, every political party wants to be in power, but for genuine public servants, they desire to be elected as a majority because they campaigned on core values supported by a majority of voters. To be in a majority by changing allies every three years and, to top it off, playing both sides of every issue, gives the party no legitimacy at all; despite nicknames they may get the media to use in the continued effort of lazy journalists looking for ways to create acronyms, use nicknames to avoid tedious surnames, and even try turning fake words into valid vocabulary, like "surrenderees" – news media really should not be encouraging people to just make up words.
Credit to the LP for their efforts in trying to take all sides of an issue and, in their long-term goal, usurp power on whichever side wins the next election. It's a plan where they can't really lose because they have invested in having the party on the record supporting and opposing the same issue – so they can always refer back to claim that has been the party's position.
However, that same tactic, based on one's perception or position on a topic, an individual can ascertain from the way the party carries itself that nothing they say matters. How do you know if the party is telling the truth if they're speaking out of both sides of their mouth? If they agree and disagree on the same subject, which is one is the true position. The way they perceive the "truth" is solely based on who is popular politically and that is, in no way, an appropriate way of determining the truth.
To be fair, there are many parties that flip-flop on issues and say one thing and change their mind the next year, but the way the LP is playing the game, they have completely abandoned any effort of keeping up a façade of being an party that stands for something and have exposed to the public their only desire is to stay in power, regardless of what position they are standing off, just as long as it is popular.
It goes back to something Vice President Leni Robredo said recently, which gives a very enlightening view into the party's priorities, "Mahalaga parati na maganda ang tingin sa atin." That's all it is. It's not a matter of presenting a party platform based on fundamental principles and beliefs; it's only about putting up a façade for the public. There's a reason last names, celebrity, and weeping widows have been the formula for electoral victory above detailed plans on alleviating the real problems facing the average citizen.
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