Former President Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada may not be the most credible politician in the Philippines, but at least he had this one right saying his decision to support politicians vying for the presidency in 2016 will depend on their platforms…
“Kung sino ang nakikita kong maganda ang plataporma, ‘yun ang susuportahan ko sa huli. I owe it to the people of the Philippines. Hindi dahil sa kumpare o inaanak ko [ay] susuportahan na agad. Kung sino ang makapagbibigay ng makabubuti sa bayan, doon ako pupunta,” he added.
The former President said he will support the candidate whose platform is similar to his. “Kung katulad ko ang programa nila ‘yun ang susuportahan ko,” he said.
[English translation of Tagalog text: “The person whose platform I consider acceptable to me will be the person I will support in the end. I owe it to the people of the Philippines. My support will not depend on friendship or family ties. I will go to whoever shows what good he/she does for the country.”]
It’s a good example Filipino voters should follow. The political “debate” with regard to the 2016 election is noisy and led by a who’s who of bozos and charlatans. In order to rise above that noise, take the political high road, and behave like truly intelligent voters, Filipinos need to get behind the only real challenge they should be issuing to Filipino politicians: Show us your platform. Please.
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Everything else about this election — who is allied with who, what “party” is backing who, who is honest or not, who is darker skinned than what race, and what nationality is who — ALL do not pass the So What? Test as far as real modern political debate is concerned. Yet the Philippines’ foremost “thought leaders” focus on nothing beyond these moronic topics. In short, the country’s self-described “intelligentsia” continue to FAIL Filipinos.
It is time ordinary Filipinos take back the political discourse and set it on a course aligned to their real concerns — the future of their country, where it is currently headed, and what they aspire for it.
Next time a politician or her minions come to you to talk about her “candidacy”, start the conversation with this simple challenge.
Show us your platform.
It’s not hard. Best of all, it will avoid conversations that waste your time.
If we are serious about any initiative to elevate the moribund quality of the Philippines’ political debate, using platforms as the sole currency for evaluating politicians is the one and ONLY first step in the right direction. The alternative has proven to be totally unworkable — allowing ourselves to be hopelessly confused by the noise put forth by the nation’s mainstream media and the so-called political “experts” that infest them.
It’s simple, really.
Politics isn’t a complicated topic. Don’t let anyone make you believe it is so. There are only a small handful of relevant arguments surrounding elections in the Philippines. In fact, there are only four:
(1) What is the platform?
(2) What are the national goals articulated in said platform?
(3) What is the strategy to achieving those goals?
(4) What is the plan to execute that strategy?
Stay focused on these arguments and the national “debate” will sound a bit less noisy, irrelevant, and intelligence-insulting.
Platform Plez!
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Platforms are just a good bull-shit story to throw at people that are dumb enough to believe it. The fact is that a platform can be thrown in the garbage as soon as the elected person that ran on said platform takes office. Maybe try looking for someone who has proven through past legislative efforts that what he/she stands for has actually been backed up by past performance in office.
Well, the people’s job doesn’t end on election day. They need to hold on to the platforms of their elected official and hold them accountable to it. If the elected official renege on their promise, which they usually do, then the people can punish the said official by calling for his resignation, not re-electing him again or by rejecting his party/candidates he endorses.
@Spainard: So what will you have then as an alternative? Nothing? A platform, whether bullshit or not at least represents something in writing that a president or any other executive can be held to. It’s sort of like being a manager. You cannot expect to hold an employee to performance standards (and take action based on that person’s performance) unless you clearly define what it means to succeed or fail.
I lay out that principle in my past article Facts and figures: President Noynoy Aquino’s promises by the numbers…
…after which I proceed to quantify success and failure along these lines.
U really want to know? OK, a mechanism in place that IF IF IF, the POS that gets elected does not do what he/she said they were going to do, and was elected based on these statements….THEY ARE REMOVED FROM OFFICE IMMEDIATELY, NO BULL-SHIT STORIES or back-peddaling. ‘You are fucking fired and may never run for office again’,and that is it. How many times have you heard a full-of-shit politician say one thing,get elected, and then not do as they stated they were going to do(The most recent example is the referendum in Greece: The people demanded ‘NO MORE AUSTERITY’, and what did the POS they elected do? He did not print new Drachma’s and have them ready to go when the ATM’s ran dry, and did exactly what the Greek people demanded he not do.)
So, HOW’s that? that actually is really simple. Unlike leveraged buyouts disguised as unifying treaties that enslave entire nations.
and while I am at it: other measures that could be taken to ensure actions are taken and accountability is ensured: Anyone, fuckin ANYONE, caught taking bribes,kickbacks,or plundering the treasury is sent to a real prison for ten years with no chance of parole or early release:MINIMUM. THAT IS IT, no fiddle-fartin around, you get caught , you get thrown in fucking prison, A REAL ONE…10 fuckin years too, no early release either….and that would be the MINIMUM sentence.Based on the severity and outright nerve of the convicted scumbag, LIFE IN PRISON or even the DEATH PENALTY, for extreme ‘crimes against the people’.(For example,The ‘Helicopter salesman’=LIFE in PRISON,WITH NO PAROLE for the outright fuckin nerve of the act.)
Based on what I just stated, if it were enacted right now, The President of the Philippines would have been removed from office already. He would have had his opportunity to do as he said he would do, failed to do it, and been removed from office. It would have happened at least 3 years ago too.
Right now, you have elected officials literally laughing in the people’s faces,stealing everything that is not nailed down,it is not only happening in the Fail-ippines either. Well,according to what was suggested, there’ll be no more of that shit, NONE !!!
and your suggestion is :”Platform PLEASE”? What? Fuck the ‘PLEASE’ part, straight away. How bout:”Do what you said you were going to do, fuck-head, or get to steppin, bitch !!!”,eh? The time for polite ‘political discourse’, especially in the Fail-ippines, is long since gone. The fact is, Filipino politicians are a bunch of fuckin thieves. According to a major S.E.Asian News Publication the entire Philippines Congress,Judiciary and Executive Offices are held by the ‘Biggest Crime Syndicate in S.E.Asia’. Maybe, politeness(?) is what produced such arrogance? Kids gloves are for kids, or people who are only ‘kiddin’. The times demand serious actions, not words.
If I had my own party, the goal would be to emerge as a Singapore in one generation. the strategy is to fix the mind if every Filipino. The plan is to require every government agency and school to adopt and implement the Zaxxun Creed. The private sector will just follow suit. Everything else is secondary. Corruptors fall!!
what a hoot, erap talking about having a platform.
my totally unoriginal platform would be:
keep calm and take what is yours with fire and blood because all of your base are belong to us
Building a nation is like constructing your house. Changing a nation is like RENOVATING your house.
What do you do, if you have this project in mind?
First, you have to hire a good Architect; to draw a Blue Print or a Plan of the House; or for the renovation of your house. Then, consult a Civil Engineer, for the durable materials you will use.
Hire the best: foreman, carpenter, mason (kantero), plumber(tubero), electrician, painter, etc…
You don’t hire people with no work experience in their respective fields.
You don’t hire people , who can sing , dance and act in plays or movies.
You don’t hire people who can deliver good speeches or oratories.
You don’t hire mentally retarded people, or people with mental issues.
You hire people, who can DO the job. And have PLANS (Platforms) , to do the job.
You don’t hire people, who had been incompetent in their job; or people who charm you; or good looking people; or people with popular names.
Our country has many problems, waiting to be solved. If we continue with the “political Zarzuelas”…we cannot climb out of the Hole, we are in.
Failipino politicians in the Failippines fail to realize the fact that eventhough they have access to the microphone, it doesn’t mean they know everything. There are others listening to them, who know more things than they do, but do not have access to the platform to say it.