When politics consumes a nation

Disgraceful,” “outrageous,” “shameless,” “hypocrites,” “inutile,” “grandstanding,” “power-tripping,” “arrogant,” “greedy opportunists,” and more are words flying about nowadays to describe the Philippine Senate, or some members thereof. Someone in my family humorously remarked, “Ang sarap nilang tirisin” (I’d love to crush them between my thumbnails, like a flea or bedbug, which is what she in effect likens them to—tiny and repulsive.) Many of us look back with nostalgia to when members of that once august chamber truly lived up to that adjective, defined by my dictionary as “inspiring awe and reverence, majestic, dignified, worthy of respect.” Those who now lord it over that chamber are—in the eyes of most of us, I believe—the diametric opposite. Instead of inspiring awe and reverence, they invite rebuke and ridicule. Rather than be admired, they are despised for shaming the nation. To me, listening to them talk can be stomach-turning.

The recent events in the Senate have made us all see quite graphically how the country’s political system has degenerated through the years, rather than progressed and matured toward bringing us closer to a prosperous, secure, and nurturing republic. There seems to be no better example than the Philippines of how the politics of power can consume a nation to the point of threatening a slide into a failed state. In the past, I’ve called politics our national malady, because it’s not only those wielding political power who are consumed by it, but also ordinary citizens who are spectators, victims, and enablers all at the same time. And it’s that pervasiveness of politics in our daily lives that makes it so hard for us to get out of the quagmire we have been trapped in as a nation for too long.

As an economist, I’ve struggled to explain our stigma of consistently ranking at or near the bottom on so many measures of socioeconomic well-being. I’ve constantly written about them over the past 23 years of this column, and addressed them in countless talks with various audiences. Be it price inflation, unemployment, average income or gross domestic product, poverty, export performance, agricultural output including agri-based exports, foreign direct investments, exchange rate stability, quality of infrastructure and logistics, power cost, ease of doing business, malnutrition and child stunting, education outcomes, and much more, the list of things where we are a miserable loser and bottom-dweller just goes on and on.

Are we such a God-forsaken nation that we find ourselves at the tail end of nearly every measure that matters for human welfare and national well-being? How can we say so, when we are in fact among the most naturally endowed countries on Earth, blessed with abundant minerals, wide biodiversity, year-round favorable agro-climatic conditions not seen in rich countries, and yes, plentiful human resources? We are a classic illustration of the “natural resource curse,” aka “paradox of plenty” described in development literature, where resource-rich countries tend to have less economic growth, less democracy, and worse development outcomes than far less-endowed countries. One only needs to look at Singapore or Japan to see the contrast. Why the paradox? Is it because where there’s abundance, a small minority will always manage to capture it for their own narrow benefit? Or does such wealth always attract foreigners who siphon it away from the locals, who logically have a claim for the benefits, especially in places with a colonial past? Or does abundance naturally breed complacency, mismanagement, and greed?

I have long believed that the single biggest reason why the Philippines failed to keep up with its neighbors is politics and bad politicians. How did we get to a point where nearly every institution and facet of governance has been so thoroughly mangled as to no longer serve the common good, which was what they were designed and meant for, but instead feed the lust for wealth and power of a few? It has so permeated the bureaucracy that even the lowliest of bureaucrats see their positions of even minor power as vantage points for extracting whatever cash they can from the general public. We are witnessing a total perversion of public servants’ anointed mission of promoting the greatest good of the greatest number, twisted into one where they pursue for themselves the greatest gain from (the hard-earned taxes of) the greatest number.

Eight years ago, I wrote that unless and until our politicians find it in their hearts to put the common good above self-gain, politics will remain our biggest block to building our economy and our nation (“Our biggest block,” 8-8-18). It still is, even more so. How and where do we begin to arrest our downhill slide when those who make the rules are the ones causing it? Sorry, but I don’t have ready answers. I can only rant, hope, and pray.

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