The Impeachment and the Power of the Ballot

As this impeachment process reached its end, much was said about the state of Philippine democracy.  Depending on which side you were on, the dismissal of the Lozano complaint signalled either the triumph or defeat of our fledgling democratic institutions and our adherence to the rule of law.   But it seemed to me that overall, the approval of the justice committee’s report revealed the weakness of the ballot in this country.  

In an ideal democracy, members of Congress are compelled to vote in accordance with the wishes of their constituency. Otherwise they face the prospect of losing their seat in the next election.  After all, the cohesiveness between popular and Congressional will is directly related to the strength of representative democracy.  Using this standard, the impeachment process reveals the weakness of Philippine democracy.

An SWS survey reports that 80% of Metro Manila residents favored an impeachment trial for GMA.  In a strong representative democracy, this means all Metro Manila congressmen would vote against the justice committee report.  That happened with respect to the  2 Congressmen from Makati City (Locsin & Butz Aquino).  For the 4 members of Congress in Quezon City, 3 voted in favor of the report while 1 (Crisologo) abstained.  Paranaque was split down with 1 in the pro-impeachment camp (Golez) and the other (Zialcita) in the majority.  The sole members for Pasay, Mandaluyong, Marikina and Malabon-Navotas voted “yes” while the sole members for San Juan (Zamora) Pateros-Taguig (Cayetano) and Pasig City (Jaworski) voted “no.” In Valenzuela, 1 voted in favor of the report (Carlos) and the other failed to vote (Serapio). In Manila, 1 voted to impeach; 4 voted not to impeach and 1 abstained.

My own count reveals the following: 

30%  –   Pro Impeachment
57%  –   Anti Impeachment
13%  –   Abstained/Failed to Vote

So, in Metro Manila, 80% preferred impeachment while only 30% of their elected representatives thought so.

Obviously, Congressmen don’t really listen to their constituents.  More importantly, what does this say about our electoral system?  It seems our direct representatives feel confident about keeping their seats while ignoring a clear preference among their voters.  This suggests that people don’t make their electoral choices based on whether their representative reflects their views in the House.  The Congressmen know this and this places popular surveys in their proper context — that is, they’re irrelevant.  In the end, the strength of a grassroots organization (taken care of with pork barrel funded projects) will keep you in power more than your sterling performance as a legislator.  And people’s collective memories are so short. Noone remembers and noone cares. 

Whether this electoral apathy is driven by poverty or a sense of hopelessness is debatable but there’s no denying it’s there.  And while it persists,  the Philippine political system can afford to ignore the interests of the public in general.  More importantly, other factors like money can play a larger thereby allowing a relatively small group (i.e., vested interests) to capture Congress.  In that sense, the Office of the President with its (PAGCOR, PCSO, PhilHealth, GSIS, SSS, etc.) pork barrel is in the best position to do just that.  After all, I can’t think of a President under this Constitution that did not have a majority control over Congress.

Ultimately, this disconnect between popular will and Congressional resolve exemplifies the distance between the people and their government and probably explains the attractiveness of people power as an alternative to expressing the people’s will.  While one can argue that a people power revolution is this country’s version of a military coup, one cannot discount that it is always propelled by a collective (but momentary) rejection of the system followed quickly by the embrace of democratic ideals.  We’ve had 2 of them already (but who’s counting) and it’s been said we’re too tired for another one.   Maybe. But I think it’s not fatigue but a sense that people power just doesn’t work.  As the great bard (Chikoy Pura) put it “Ang naglalakad ng tulog ay tiyak na mauumpog!” 

Garbage in, garbage out.  People power was a band aid.  We need to cure the disease.