LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

Politics of the pig
March L. Fianza

I have witnessed the 'politics of the meat,' the real one, in Banawe. It was the distribution of the meat to all the left and right relatives of a couple who spearheaded a clan reunion, a canao or a simple thanksgiving rite. Here, even the relatives of the couple who were unable to attend the canao receive their share of meat through those who attended. Respect and honesty are the keywords of the Ifugao in this act of meat-sharing.

In Benguet, it is entirely a different situation. For example in Mankayan, lawyer Mat Luspian, former mayor, attests to the fact that the temerity of a congressional bet in the province has been steadily decreasing as the electorate noticed that he seldom attended his invitations but had been sending Mister Pig as his representative. The reaction among the mischievous in Mankayan is that "they will vote for the pig" instead of the candidate.

The bad after-effect, according to Manong Mat is that future politicos will find it very hard to campaign then because of the culture or conditioning that has been started by moneyed politicians of the past who could easily spend and send the pig to the electorate's community. Of course, that affects not only the mining town of Mankayan but the greater Benguet area, including Baguio.

We can not deny the fact that the Ibalois, Kankanaeys, Iowaks, Kalanguyas and other tribal groups are carnivores, but that must not be abused by flooding their communities with meat. In fact, a respected elder of a multi-tribal community that traces its roots in Mountain Provinces but who are now permanent La Trinidad residents said, "agbalin a kaasi ti candidato nga makikil-kikilan" (a candidate becomes poor because of too much solicitations).

Personally, I can not really afford to spend more than two or three pigs in campaign sorties, although the desire to serve the public through an elective post still burns under my skin. And so, that form of campaigning must stop.

***

As the end nears for political campaigns, we cannot help but take note of statements made by candidates and voters alike. There are indeed statements worth considering. However, we are also obligated to mention political statements we have heard, whether good or bad.

We start off with the statement by Loren Legarda about making "education available for all" in a not so convincing, although colorful act of planting rice on TV. Sonia Roco's plain statement of fighting for "education for all" sans the acting provides watchers the same effect. Both belong to the Genuine Opposition party.

Health and education seem to be the issues discussed by our lady candidates in the national level down to the local. Tessie Oreta Aquino has also delved into the issue. But what makes Sonia Roco more believe-able when she talks about her topics is the fact that she has not been exposed in public.

In comparison, Nicki Coseteng's popularity is plain popularity. She may be a beauty icon and matron of the arts, but the society looks for candidates who tackle more relevant issues on economics and survival. Beauty and arts, like actors and actresses seeking elective posts are accidental winners, except for a few, such as Vilma Santos, FPJ, Erap, Zwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood and Reagan.

Meanwhile, Tess Aquino's strange shifting to the other party is looked at by many as insincerity to affiliations and loyalty to personal ambitions. Legarda on the other hand, gathered majority of her votes when she ran with movie idol FPJ. Also, her popularity as a media personality has always given her the much needed plus. But then, the issues that people want her to be involved in seem to have faded away due to her long absence. No matter how she acts like she is really planting rice in her political commercial, all that is left of her as a vote getter, really, is her popularity.

In Benguet, a respected elder from Mt. Province made a statement during congressional bet Ronald Cosalan's caucus. "May I ask you kakailian nga taga Mt. Province to vote for Cosalan ta napigsa nga maibaon idjay congresso. Nagrigat tayo nga nag-uray tayo ti innem nga tawen keni Apo Dangwa ngem awan met ti naaramidan na. Apay aguray tayo manen ti tallo pay?" (May I ask you my provincemates from Mt. Province to vote for Cosalan because he is a strong man that we can send to congress. We waited for six years for Apo Dangwa but he did nothing. Why should we wait for another three years?)

"Ibotos tayo ni Cosalan tapnu matulungan tayo ni Apo Dangwa. Tulungan tayo nga aginana ni Apo Dangwa." (Vote for Cosalan so that we will help Apo Dangwa. Let us help Apo Dangwa rest). ***

The natural turn of political events lately has benefited some candidates but has disadvantaged others. Last Friday in Bulacan, kids witnessed armed men removing the posters of CIBAC party-list while at the same time posting BANTAY party-list posters. Bocaue mayoralty candidate Jonjon Villanueva confronted the motorcycle-riding men which led to a shoot-out between the two party-list supporters. The armed men were later found to be members of the AFP. Retired army general J. Palparan is one of the nominees BANTAY. Comelec must prosecute the soldiers guilty of violating rules because the AFP must be non-partisan.