B. Empowerment is key to participatory governance.
Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. The word “people” is not replaceable with the name Arroyo, Villafuerte or Robredo. Or even Tria. Therefore, we can never say that democracy is the government of Tria, by Tria and for Tria. In a democratic country like ours, there are three golden rules to follow to ensure that it is the government of the people, by the people and for the people, namely: honest elections, the separation of powers, and transparency. All these must be in place to ensure participatory governance.
First, clean and honest elections. This is one of the weakest points in our country. The reason is obvious: Because of poverty, majority of the electorate are easily manipulated by money.
According to Aristotle, democracy can take place only when the majority belongs to the middle class. To belong to the middle class means to have access to all services that makes one human such as employment, housing and healthcare. To belong to the middle class means to be empowered.
This is not the case in our country. Many have no access to quality education. Many have no access to employment. Many have no access to housing and healthcare. These are what we call the Masang Pilipino. The masses are vulnerable and defenseless against the schemes of the corrupt. They are the ones being exploited during elections.
Let us check the case of Naga City. Many local governments in the country attempt to provide housing for its constituents. While the project is laudable, it is actually silent about ‘ownership’ or ‘private property’. All they do is to give them a semblance of ownership.
The local governments simply give poor families the ‘right’ to use a housing unit. Such ‘right’ never guarantees ownership across the generations. The Urban Poor Housing in Naga is no different. Without a system of collection, no value is taught by the government on how important it is own a lot for their own empowerment. According to Rerum Novarum, private ownership is one of the tools towards human development. It is a tool to human creativity and inventiveness. If the urban poor housing is serious with its program towards private ownership, why is it not serious in collecting monthly amortizations? If the leadership is happy about the perpetual indebtedness of its constituents, this is not good governance. Many of the electorate comes from the urban poor. Every unpaid amortization guarantees enough number of votes in the election. Vote for me so you can continue to stay in the house.
Granting that the elections were free from election fraud, but was the decision of the citizens a product of a free and honest discernment? Or was the decision a product of fear of losing their house?
Second, separation of powers. Do we really promote institutional pluralism in Naga? Are the legislative and judiciary separate and autonomous from the executive? In our city, do you believe there is separation of powers between the Mayor and the Sanggunian? What do we really mean by ubos kung ubos? Common good can only be guaranteed by a pluralist institution.
What does this ubos kung ubos speak about our people? That there are few men and women who are qualified to run our government? Or that there are only few who believe in the democratic structures of our city and are therefore, unwilling to run for office? In both cases, this is a cause for concern. The unwilling believe that an elective position is not the way to serve the people. Those who are willing soon realize that ours is in fact is a closed society. This increases the number of the unwilling. It’s a vicious cycle. Lastly, transparency, which was discussed lengthily earlier. (to be continued)