Pres Rody Duterte Must Clean The Dirty Politicians In The Philippines

Only in the Philippines can politics really get dirty. And I don’t mean character assassinations and below-the-belt attacks against political opponents. These practices are also fairly common in other democracies. Just watch and listen to Donald Trump.

What makes the Philippines unique is the amount of garbage, literally, that is generated before, during, and after the political season.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) reported recently that it collected tons and tons of trash – consisting of illegally placed campaign posters. Same was true in other capitals outside Metro Manila where the Comelec and their deputies tore down oversized tarpaulins, streamers, and similar materials from trees, electric posts, and about anywhere else where they were not supposed to be.

But if you think that’s a lot, just wait for the official campaign period for local officials and congressmen to begin a few weeks from now. By then, potential trash materials will not only be generated by presidentiables, vice-presidentiables, and senatoriables.

A hundred times or perhaps a thousand times more would be coming from hopefuls seeking their political fortunes as provincial governors, vice governors, board members, mayors, vice mayors, councilors – and honorable congressmen.

In the past, any flat surface (such as walls and fences) was prime target for paper posters and stickers. Supporters of candidates would compete for premium spaces (usually in town plazas) by posting on top of an opponent’s poster. The overlay competition was done on a daily and even hourly basis so that by the end of the week, the layers and layers of posters would become so thick that they would simply peel off due to sheer weight.

Leaflets and flyers are also significant trash generators. Going to their precincts, most voters have to walk through piles of litter which are often deliberately scattered by overzealous campaigners.

Expect the Comelec and their deputized government units to put up a token effort of taking down illegal posters. But that’s about it. We have read about a few candidates being penalized for excessive spending. But we still have to come across a case of any candidate being prosecuted for over-sized and/or illegally placed campaign materials.

After the elections, nobody among those who were directly or (as the Senate committee puts it ) ultimately responsible for all these garbage ever cleans up. In Metro Manila, everybody expects MMDA Chair Emerson Carlos to collect the thrash.

National artist for literature F. Sionil Jose has written essays which he compiled into books entitled: “Why We Are Hungry” and “Why We Are Poor.” I would not be surprised if the national artist, who is still very mentally active in his 90s, comes out with another volume entitled: “Why We Are Dirty.”