OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT
Diwa C. Guinigundo
It was something that did not happen in the Philippines after the May 2022 presidential election. Despite the incredible results, those who lost their bids in the election either conceded or decided to wait for the official results, but no one parroted either Donald Trump or Rudy Giuliani who, with unfounded allegations of massive electoral fraud, were quoted to have exhorted the unruly crowd to march to the US Capitol and destroy democracy. Time Magazine reported that Trump even warned his followers that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Joe Biden’s leadership in the United States is not exactly sterling. But despite his withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan and the lightning spread of the Delta variant across America, the Americans never lost their country. Democracy survived. Trump’s rhetoric proved empty.
But there were still a few heads of states who bought Trump’s story and maintained that the Democrats stole the US election. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro was one of them, having a deep scorn for both democracy and civil society. Under him, Brazil retreated to weaker checks and balances. He engineered anti-democratic rallies and discredited his country’s electoral processes by insisting on paper ballots.
As Brazil’s president, Bolsonaro faced numerous investigations and no less than 50 appeals for impeachment, and undermined the judiciary and electoral tribunal. He was also reported to have maintained trolls in the social media against his own cabinet and political opponents. One of his sons attempted to close the National Congress and state assemblies, prohibit political demonstrations, suppress press freedom and suspend constitutional rights.
Bolsonaro has this authoritarian streak. He defended Brazil’s military dictatorship and excesses during his over 30 years as politician. Convicted torturers were heroes to Bolsonaro. Two years before becoming president, some of his fascist rallyists demanded the revival of military dictatorship while storming the National Congress in the capital city of Brasilia.
With neither an outstanding economic performance nor adherence to the rule of law, Bolsonaro lost the election last Oct. 30, 2022 to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He almost made it at 49 percent of the votes cast against Lula’s 51 percent, thanks to the huge increase in cash transfers to low-income Brazilians. Questioning the integrity of the electoral results, Bolsonaro’s supporters replayed a few days ago the horrendous spectacle of those Trumpists in Washington, DC in January 2021. He demonstrated how to discredit democracy.
But what is clear is that both the American and Brazilian people repudiated their brand of leadership. Trump and Bolsonaro are cautionary tales against incompetence and excesses in government. Democracy was not the enemy of the people.
In the Philippines, there was nothing like those anarchic outbursts in the six years of the Duterte administration, or in the first semester of the six years of the Bongbong presidency.
But in the last administration, based on reports, democracy was undermined by extrajudicial drug war, political persecution of key public servants, civilian courts’ eroded independence, as well as crackdown on both traditional and social media. Today, some observers are beginning to see some of the reasons behind the loss of Trump and Bolsonaro at the polls, manifesting in our local scene.
These populist presidents who finished first in both the surveys and the election proper claimed to represent the grassroots and pledged to short-circuit democratic processes for a radical break from the status quo. Both began to enjoy the trust of the population who felt that they had been kept out of the mainstream’s share of power and prosperity. Even the lack of support from the mainstream institutions seemed to highlight their authenticity.
But once they assumed office, both Trump and Bolsonaro realized governing a nation could be very difficult. Their position weakened and unless they embraced authoritarianism, fund fanatic supporters, or coopted the military, their leadership could be very short. They struggled with basic governance, mismanaged their economies and mishandled the pandemic. The electorate had every reason to reject them at the polls.
At this point, we are so engrossed with onions and sugar when the global economy is poised for a deep recession and sustained high food and energy prices. We would rather spend legislative time for an investment fund when our large budget deficit demands a more judicious use of the budget, or otherwise resort to higher taxes or more borrowings. We are so hesitant to impose appropriately strict health protocols at various entry points in the country when the new variant is fast spreading in their countries of origin. We have yet to learn from the political and economic scars of past experience with mismanagement.
On these gut issues of food, finance and health, we only have to do a hard look, seek the support of real experts, those who did not grow into hard-core politicians, let us also consult with the people on the ground including farmers, businessmen, bankers, traders and middlemen, consolidate and follow their advice through Congress.
Short of that, our people will continue to suffer while those in charge grapple with governance.
The least we want to see are politicians who would resort to and nurture populism to compensate for the deficit in good governance and smart solutions to common problems. A comeback for them is certainly superfluous.
The world has enough of Trump and Bolsonaro.