Imagine (Sabong News)

It has become apparent that there has been a monumental shift in Philippine politics. The people have spoken. The traditional ways of political dynasties, patronage, and vote buying will no longer suffice. After decades of this never-ending cycle of investing in campaigns and recovering expenses by raiding government coffers, we are no longer willing to tolerate this. The massive outpouring of support for Leni Robredo by people from all walks of life, spending their own money, time and effort to campaign for her, rather than the other way around, has transformed our concept of political campaigns. It has drawn massive crowds in grand rallies and even the minor ones, thanks to the selfless work of “abunado” organizers, performers and attendees. It speaks of an election juggernaut that will bulldoze all in its path. But whether Leni Robredo wins or not, and I truly believe she will, we will have awakened the sleeping giant in all of us, which is the realization that political power truly lies in ordinary people’s hands, not the long-entrenched politicos. Why do I say she will win? Recent events are clear signals. The release of a fake sex video implicating Leni’s daughter Aika is a clear sign of desperation by the erstwhile frontrunner that their campaign is losing steam while Leni’s is forging ahead in big strides, thanks to hundreds of thousands of supporters tirelessly campaigning on the ground and in social media. While mudslinging has been a staple of electioneering, this takes it to the next lowest level in its misogyny and plain evilness. But instead, it has backfired by making erstwhile supporters of this “frontrunner” recoil in shock and shift their support to the very victim it was intended to besmirch. Then we have the press conference of three presidential candidates, which was stated to affirm that they’re staying in the race but which turned into, or was it really intended to be, a demolition job on Leni Robredo. Moreno challenged her to withdraw based on allegations of insincerity in their talks and alleged unsubstantiated statements by Leni that if she doesn’t win, there will be trouble. The sight of three men ganging up on a woman who’s not present to defend herself is truly pathetic. This will again boomerang on them for sure as there are a lot of witty cartoons and memes circulating online about these Easter “eggs.” To begin with, they’re actually no longer on the horizon, much less in contention, based on all metrics: surveys, Google trends and rally crowd sizes.This is another sign of desperation of campaigns on their last legs. So, win or lose, what does it matter? Corruption will still be around and so will political dynasties.  This is a vast network that can be tapped again to become a watchdog and on a more proactive basis, pursuing constitutional/legislative change from the ground up. This is based on the Philippine Constitution that allows a people’s initiative to propose amendments to the constitution or enact national legislation or local legislation. A prime example is the enactment of an anti-political dynasty bill, which VP Leni proposed when she was in Congress, which of course did not pass in a setting where the majority of lawmakers are political dynasts themselves. If the vast majority of Leni supporters can be united in a single network to push for this bill, all it takes is a people’s initiative that’s signed by 10 percent of registered voters. That’s roughly six million which is easily much less than current Leni supporters. There is a  requirement as well that at least three percent of registered voters in each legislative district  sign it, again another easy task considering the grassroots reach of the Leni supporters. Once the required number of signatures is reached, Comelec will verify each signature and if verified, publish it in newspapers at least twice for people to understand. Then it shall set the date of a national referendum not earlier than 45 days but not later than 90 days once the petition is deemed sufficient. Here, the campaign will be to promote the bill and ask voters to say yes to the bill. Again, the grassroots reach of the Leni supporters should be tapped for another house-to-house campaign. A majority vote for the proposition effectively makes it a law after it is published in the Official Gazette or national newspaper. Imagine if we can enact the anti-dynasty bill which enables the implementation of the anti-dynasty provisions of the Constitution which has been repeatedly stymied by these political families. Imagine how many pro-poor and pro-environment laws we can enact this way, bypassing the vested interests of lawmakers and big business? So, if you’re a Leni supporter, or anyone else who desires real change for that matter, are you up to the challenge? This is truly power to the people! Game on!