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The news was of course a recycling of an old statement. The message has not changed by any means since the first time it was made. Unless the opposition unites I will run again for president, so the deposed, convicted and pardoned president informed. But of course we knew even before he was pardoned that we wouldn't be so easily rid of him. Who had any doubts at all he would be seeking his old office?
Most likely not GMA. I believe that was the whole point to freeing him. In jail he seemed ever the charming martyr whom from time to time could stick a comical bit of pain on the administration's side. Out of jail he would be the man that would always divide the vote for the opposition come election time. He is only behaving as promised. It is fate written in the stars. There is no other way to get over it.
We knew he would run from the text itself: ?unless the opposition unites?. Jokes should have been made about it already for it is quite an absurd premise given the nature and history of Philippine politics. It is by far easier for the administration politicians to unite. They are like bees which must search for honey. And the honey which holds them together is power. In this case, the political advantage that will be provided by the machineries of government in the hands of the incumbent.
Even to this day, they say GMA's support is a kiss of death for any candidate. This may well be true but it will be an unproven assertion right down to the final count of votes. It is an assertion which ironically enough is bound to divide even more rather than unite the opposition. The idea of GMA gone can only whet the ambitions of opposition politicians. But then the idea of uniting the opposition was always a lost cause to start with, which was why we knew Erap was running right from the beginning.
Rather than dwell on it, we are better off to expect that the next elections will not be won by anyone having a clear majority of votes. More politicians will be running and they will be winning on less number of votes. That would have implications on the nature of politics from hereon. The implications are not all bad.
In times past presidents won on a majority of popular votes spread over the entire national geographical field. From hereon, it may become possible for candidates to win on the basis of votes located over smaller geographical and political fields. They may win on the basis of particular issues and platforms which may not be entirely popular or high on the national agenda. Local issues are bound to become more important. In an ideal situation candidates for president will have to go to the field feeling the true pulse of people and finding out what's important to them. Hopefully they will be more sensitive to local issues rather than big ?national? ones.
Such an eventuality will only empower smaller politicians if not the people themselves. The ordinary run of people do not really care too much about national issues. They worry more about little ones like the cost of rice, their living conditions, the cost of essential goods, the cost of education, etc. These are things which are usually given only nominal attention by presidential candidates. Hopefully, they may become real issues over which the fate of presidential candidates should rest.
I am not talking here about the type of attention Erap gave these issues when he ran for and became president the first time. The mind cannot help but summon memories of him distributing bags of goodies and eating barehanded with the poor. Such are only media hype designed to present him as one with the people we knew this was more fiction than anything else. Only the most gullible believe.
But recently I had the occasion to hear of serious candidates visiting Cebu and actually talking with people. I had the good fortune to attend one meeting with a presidential hopeful and I must say it was good experience for me. The candidate talked about issues on justice and the economy and answered questions fielded by ordinary people. This led me to think that even Philippine politics can undergo a period of change and that we would, in time, have to modernize with the rest of the world.
The road will not be easy of course and for a while yet we would have to contend with traditional politicians and their political dynasties. But it is also inevitable that things will change. There is a positive side to the fact of Erap running.
