THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Recall process abused (1)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Recall is a political mechanism wherein an elective leader is subjected to an election midway into his term on the heels of a regular election which he won. This is resorted to after the concerned official has lost the trust and confidence of the electorate.

It is an explicit power provided by the constitution whereby the electorate can recall or withdraw the trust that it reposed to an elective official through the sacred ballot. However, this is only resorted to once the latter proved unworthy of such trust and not for any whimsical reason.

In another angle, it is a mechanism in which the stake of the electorate in the power and authority being dispensed by an elective official is given due recognition and affirmation by the state. It was instituted to enable the electorate to exercise such stake even as it is no less their human right, too, as it is inherent of them to elect the leader they deem best who can concretize their collective aspirations. Summing it up, recall is a process that embodies and puts into practice the principle “that power resides in the people and sovereignty emanates from them” as stated loud and clear in the preamble of the constitution.

In essence, an elective official is a sort of lessee of the power he is dispensing having temporarily borrowed it from the people who is the real holder of political power and thus, the lessor of such power.

The power having been granted not through barratry but through persuasion and some measure of cajolery, it then behooves an elective official to prove himself equal to the degree of public service required and expected of him by the electorate. Corollary to this, he is also expected serve with integrity, probity, fairness, justness and competence.

It goes without saying that at any rate, he must be equipped with the proper ergonomics- the mental and physical capacities inherent in a person’s psyche and physical structure relative to the demands made upon him by the various tasks required of him as an official. Though power per se is self-fulfilling, its proper use for the public welfare is by no means an easy task even as it is subject to public scrutiny at all times.

With their limited perspective on the kinetics of governance notwithstanding, people as watchdogs over the public actuations of elective officials oftentimes use fancy yardstick in measuring their degree of effectivity.

The downside in this is that such unrealistic standards consequently effect an unforgiving attitude of any lapse, major or minor, of their elective officials. Which, by itself, is the unkindest cut of all as officials had to deal with perplexing systems and procedures aside from interlocking traffic of policies, rules and regulations from government agencies which they are expected to implement effectively within their jurisdiction.

In the history of Philippine elections, a number of local elective officials have been the subject of recall petitions. The flurry of recall petitions now flooding the Commission on Elections made me think of two recall elections that made headlines due to the prominence of the personalities involved even though the contests were held on local territories. What made this exciting and inexorably merited national attention was the peppery exchange of diatribes and rhubarbs between the protagonists which often bordered on the personal.

The first was the recall election in Bataan in the late 80’s that pitted then incumbent Governor Enrique “Tet” Garcia against Leonardo Roman. Roman won the tiff but “Tet” tenaciously held on to the governorship through legal maneuverings. While they were trying to outwit each other, confusion gripped their constituents as to whom to recognize as he rightful leader until “Tet” graciously turned over the governorship to his nemesis.

The second one, which was equally bitter, was the recall elections in Caloocan city in 1996 which pitted then Mayor Rey Malonso against Boy Assistio. Malonso soundly walloped Assistio in that recall elections after his runaway victory over the latter during the 1995 local polls.

Of late, the most prominent recall petition to be lodged in the Comelec that riveted people’s attention now is the one lodged against Fr. Ed “Among” Panlilio, the sitting Governor of Pampanga. A first termer, who has just warmed his seat, he is facing the prospect of a recall election due to his unflinching fight against the twin evils of jueteng and pervasive corruption in the local bureaucracy of Pampanga.