This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 1, February 5-11, 2006
To
survive, it looks like Filipinos are now wont to have a persistent belief in
democracy and pride in being Filipinos, expecting little from corrupt and
inefficient government institutions.
By MARIA SALAMAT Notwithstanding the social
crisis, Filipinos remain proud of their national identity and have learned not
to expect anything from the government. Based on the Social Weather
Station’s (SWS) annual yearend recap of findings from all its surveys, “pride in
being Filipino is very high and impervious to economic downtrends, political
crisis and security concerns.” It appears that most Filipinos do not really
identify with their present government leaders and that many of these leaders
have actually isolated themselves from most Filipinos. Dr. Mahar Mangahas,
president of SWS, revealed that in terms of governance, “public satisfaction was
at a historic low” indicated by a pronounced dissatisfaction with national
administration performance in addressing inflation, corruption, crime and
poverty. He said that “net
satisfaction with a president has never been so low and prolonged,” as shown in
the declining satisfaction ratings of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo compared
to that of former Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada. The SWS recap gathered that
the political crisis stemmed from the controversial 2004 national and local
elections. A whopping 71 percent of SWS’ respondents believed Susan Roces’ (wife
of the late Fernando Poe, Jr. who ran for president in 2004) accusation of
massive cheating. Many also believe that Commission on Election (Comelec),
National Movement for Free Election (Namfrel), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
and Philippine National Police (PNP) have definitely or probably been involved
in cheating in the 2004 elections. The “Hello Garci”
(allegedly wiretapped conversations between Arroyo and Comelec Commissioner
Virgilio Garcillano) issue is not yet over, Mangahas said. Based on their
surveys, there is a general sentiment for ousting President Arroyo, whether
through impeachment, resignation or people power. But even among those who want
Arroyo impeached, only a few trust the House and Senate to be fair in their
decisions. Meanwhile, the moves for
charter change – widely perceived to be either Arroyo’s graceful exit or her
attempt at holding on to power – are not really initiated from below, and the
people are aware that they are not part of it. In the SWS surveys, 70% of
respondents do not have suggestions for any change in the charter, while 30% who
gave suggestions have ideas that do not really call for amending the
constitution. He said that allowing a
past or present president to become prime minister is not popular. The SWS
surveys also found out that the government rates just a teeny bit higher than
rebels in terms of perceived sincerity in talking peace. It also does not look like
Arroyo and her administration will ever get more popular because the Filipinos
have become poorer in 2005, and believe that the next 12 months will not bring
much improvement. Mangahas said that the economic situation in 2005 was bad,
pointing out an upward trend in self-rated poverty and more incidences of
belt-tightening as female and youth unemployment also increased. Hunger went
from a record low in September 2003 to record high in December 2005. Almost half of the SWS’
respondents declared that compared to a year before, their quality of life has
now become worse. Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
■
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Despite GMA, poverty
Proud to Be Pinoy
Bulatlat
Filipinos want Arroyo out
Hungrier and poorer