About Noynoy: A Father's Letter to His Son

07 March 2010

Dear Paul,

I think my whole family, including your mother and your sisters are definitely NOT voting for Villar, most likely for Noynoy Aquino. I'm sure you found Winnie Monsod's piece very reasonable and convincing.

Kindly read my last week’s post. But I'll add a few more lines.

Nonoy could very well be a more honest leader, less prone to corrupt practices although to what extent he can control his government down below is another question. Cory was perhaps incorruptible but her government was rife with corruption up to her cabinet. I had first hand information about how a small businessman was sent away by Joker Arroyo, her executive secretary that time, for being unable to cough up with the right amount to get through an above-the-board request for an import permit.

My main point is that corruption only abets the country's backwardness and mass poverty of the people but is not the cause of it. It is the nature of our economic system that makes our country unable to provide employment opportunities for its people. Behind this economic system is our captivity and/or adherence to a global economic order. Unless our country breaks out of this global economic stranglehold, the economy will remain backward and the people poor. A clean and honest-to-goodness presidency would not change the situation a bit if it pursued the same economic policies. Winnie Monsod is one who is quite comfortable with the present economic system for one reason or another.

We in Makabayan have no illusions about Villar. But our alliance effort with Noynoy’s camp did not prosper. I believe the feeling of distrust was mutual. We know the people surrounding him, not to mention the organizations of big business. Some of them come from the so-called civil society who would not touch us with a ten-foot pole. All they want is a clean government where they can continue to dominate the economy and control the levers of power. Perhaps, their hearts bleed for the poor but they don’t want to rock the boat that would put to risk their share of the fruit of exploitation. Noynoy would be their perfect horse for among the candidates he alone can continue the illusion that there’s no need to make fundamental changes to society to lift the people from poverty.

I believe that the insertion of Makabayan, a progressive political party, in government both at the national and local levels is the one factor that can make a difference. Satur and Liza - against 22 other senators - would give the senate a hell of a fight for a nationalist and progressive economy. The fight will continue in the lower house of congress through our party-list representatives. And perhaps, a Villar presidency may be enticed to break foreign domination of the nation's economy firstly because he didn’t owe the Makati Business Club a bit and secondly, that would give Filipino entrepreneurs, including himself, a chance at rising to the top of the economy. That's how South Korea became an economic superpower in Asia - the ascendancy of national entrepreneurs, despite corruption at the very top of government. The fight against corruption should and will continue under a Villar presidency or someone else’s. That will be a constant.

I have reasons to suspect that what Noynoy’s handlers and supporters fear more than a corrupt Villar administration is his flirtation with the Left. Should the Left succeed in establishing an anchorage on government, Villar’s regime might turn into something like Hugo Chavez’ of Venezuela. Unlike Nonoy, Villar is a character they haven’t tried to control. The gods of Makati may be thinking that Villar is too big, too proud and independent-minded to dictate on. They didn’t want another Erap who listened more to his drinking and gambling buddies than them. In the final analysis, for them it’s not really about Noynoy or his parent’s legacy – whatever that is – but them and their business empires. That’s why they love Winnie and Christian Monsod.