A Year After, LP’s to Blame (Part II)

Thursday, 30 June 2011 05:40

Written by Malou Tiquia

Why is LP to blame? They foisted two things to the voters: a MAR slide and the Noy candidacy, even if they themselves knew Noy was not ready. Its one thing to win and another thing to govern. After winning, the whole LP organization withered away. Most critical were the political officers and operators of the party that lost heart at the way they were being left out in the distribution of the spoils. Then the dyed in the wool LPs who thought now they can show to all what LP is as a political party, started asking the right questions only to be met by defensive postures from party leaders.

With candidate Noy’s victory, bystanders like this Zilch was thinking that the Liberal agenda would be THE agenda and the years NIPS (LP’s think tank) labored and toiled to define and reposition liberalism would shape up as the national agenda. But it’s turning out that indeed LP is Last Priority, a term used by one of the leaders of the party. From the LP pool of experienced and seasoned individuals, LP only got Budget, Local Government (finally Robredo was given a permanent appointment), Agrarian Reform and Agriculture. At the House of Representatives, they got the small LP members to be chairs of important committees and be deputy speakers. The same is true in the Senate but the numbers there are really just a handful. There were sub cabinets and GOCC postings but the shaping of the agenda and the implementation of programs were totally different from LP’s core.

In one of the public fora I attended, I even asked directly really good friends from the party if they were indeed the party in government? Since it was a pointed question made public, the answer given was yes. So if indeed they are, how come the party allowed the weathering of political capital, of not surrounding their leader with a competent core as safety net or workhorses to ensure there is a 24/7 vital cog in governance working for and ensuring that things don’t fall between cracks? Why should there be a consistent redefinition of core values when liberalism has been aptly defined and its governing principles laid out in words and practice and yet, the Aquino II administration is just yellow and not liberal? Could it be LP was just a vehicle, a requirement in the filing of the COC?

LP foisted to the Filipino voters BSA3. It should be incumbent upon the party to ensure the success of his administration, closing the growing gap between the haves and the have nots, ensuring no province left behind in terms of growth and equity, filing cases against the previous dispensation and not just contend themselves with sound bites and what have you, move this country forward, do the hard stuff now when political capital is still there. The administration talks of inclusive growth and yet it is not inclusive in its rhetoric and actuations.

A year after winning the presidency, LP should be able to chart its course skillfully ensuring it does not falter in the short, middle and long terms. But the short, mid and long terms are still yet to be defined.

The war against corruption is growing with new names and faces associated with some yellowish hue. The peace and order front is wanting with crimes committed almost on a daily basis. Political armies are still present, warlordism rules in few, isolated areas. If indeed there is change, it should be felt in the countryside, in the Club 20 that remains mired in abject poverty. If indeed the 4Ps is what is needed to respond to poverty, why is it that more and more Filipino families live in karitons? Why are there kids still selling sampaguitas, cleaning your vehicle’s glass, asking for alms? If indeed the gap between the rich and poor is closing, why are there more billionaires now than a generation or two ago? If indeed there is change, why can’t this administration get their PPP’s moving? Why is there aimless drift as if waiting for something?

For LP to be relevant in the future, it has to show cause why they should be now. If it decides to just be a bystander, it will die just like all other parties have done so in the past. LP must be felt by all because it is only through such engagement can they recruit and distinguish themselves from all other pretenders. LP had a grand tradition, a progressive leaning, and a responsible past and yet it is not felt today, its influence unsustained, its service undefined.

Some people are saying, if Aquino II flounders, LP will be blamed for it despite what some apologists are offering that LP is Last Priority. You wanted to win and you got it. Govern and work for that mandate, that’s how simple it should be. If you foisted an unprepared candidate, it is the duty of the party to make night day just so we get the ship of state moving.

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