Boxer and Senator Manny Pacquiao, who has made known his ambition of becoming president, said during a media interview that too much democracy is bad for the Philippines. Such overly simplistic view underscores Pacquiao’s lack of grasp of the problems and issues confronting the Philippines, not to mention the meaning of democracy as the bedrock of our system of government.
The term “democracy” came from the Greek words “demos” (“people”) and “kratos” (“rule”). In its literal sense “democracy” means rule by the people. In its broader sense, it connotes a government ruled by the people either directly or indirectly through their elected representatives, which in the Philippines are the senators and congressmen.
Democracy is the anti-thesis of autocracy, which is the exercise of absolute power by one person, like in a monarchy where the King is the sole and absolute ruler or in a dictatorship.
Pacquiao blames “too much democracy” for corruption and people’s lack of discipline. What exactly did he mean by too much democracy? Should we do away with elected representatives like him and have the country run by one person?
Some people have this notion that we need strongman rule to discipline the people. We could hear them exclaim “mabuti pa noong panahon ni Marcos disiplinado ang mga tao,” referring to the ignominious Martial Law period under Marcos when people were supposedly scared of the authorities by following traffic rules, obeying curfews, avoided littering on the streets, etc. This was probably true, but crimes were still being committed and corruption became even more rampant in the government, especially at the highest levels of power.
The Philippine problem is not discipline, not people’s hardheadedness, and certainly not “too much democracy” but the lack of accountability of public officials for their malfeasance in office, absence of the rule of law and its uneven application.
The Philippines will never get out of the quagmire of corruption and lack of accountability of public officials as long as those in power come readily to the defense of erring public officials and even reward them, like when Duterte promoted Debold Sinas as Chief PNP despite the latter’s brazen flouting of the very quarantine rules he was tasked to enforce as NCRPO chief; or the case of Nicanor Faeldon who, even while under investigation as Customs chief for the agency’s failure to detect and prevent the entry of P6.4 billion worth of shabu to the country, was appointed by Duterte as head of the Office of Civil Defense and later on the Bureau of Corrections.
Rather than indict democracy as bad for the country, we should even more value and strengthen it because it is the only way by which authoritarian rule can be prevented. The people, as the ultimate repository of political power, should continuously retain the power to choose – and remove – those who will govern them. That many times they choose the wrong leaders is part of the democratic process; what is important is their power to change those whom they mistakenly elected and voice their opposition and criticism to their elected officials, which is an important aspect of democracy.
Those who complain about too much criticism and opposition to the government should first look why these criticisms and objections are being made in the first place. It will be the height of foolishness to say that it is these criticisms and objections that make the country more miserable, the poor become poorer, and government corruption more rampant. Criticism of government conduct did not create the country’s ills; it is, on the contrary, what is preventing the country from falling from the precipice because conscientious opposition, an involved citizenry, and a vigilant press are what check government excesses.
No, Senator Pacquiao. “Too much” democracy is not the problem. It is government’s ineptitude, its continues failure to address the ills besetting the country, and public officials who continuously violate their oath and who are more interested in aggrandizing themselves than serving the people that are bad for the country.