Election Day: The Lesser Evil Prevails

I suppose the “voting-for-the-lesser-evil” logic has prevailed. The Philippines has moved forward in automating this year’s elections, yet its ways of voting are still way too backward. Oligarchy and political dynasties still rule. Oh well.

For the record, I have nothing ill to speak about Ninoy Aquino who is currently leading the polls. I just don’t like the kind of emotion that the people poured onto the guy. It makes him the type who can be easily swayed. But hey, I may be too harsh.

I was trying to get a feel of how the world is generally taking the Philippine elections when I caught on this article from the Wall Street. Given that the Philippines is a Catholic and democratic nation, it’s not surprising how outsiders see our actions and decisions as something that is always based on faith.  Anyway, look at how seemingly unsupportive the headline is:

The Philippines’ Leap of Faith
(Today’s Election May Not Set The Country On a Better Economic Path)

Voters in Asia's oldest democracy today go to the polls to usher out the nine-year era of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Few Filipinos will be sad to see her go, given her spotty economic record and flourishing corruption at almost every level of government and private enterprise. Yet what comes next for 92 million Filipinos is still very much an open question.

One thing is clear: The country is desperate for competent, clean leadership. That's the only way to explain the come-from-nowhere campaign of frontrunner Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. Until the August death of his famous mother, Cory Aquino, Mr. Aquino professed "not one iota" of interest in running for the nation's highest office. Now most opinion polls give him and his vice presidential pick, Mar Roxas, a 20 percentage-point lead over their nearest rival, former president Joseph Estrada.

Mr. Aquino's campaign has largely rested on the legacy of his famous family, who fought to return the country to democratic rule after decades of dictatorship. To his credit, Mr. Aquino has pledged to uphold similar values of clean governance and an emphasis on poverty reduction.

But like his competitors, Mr. Estrada and property magnate Manuel Villar Jr., Mr. Aquino has said very little about how he would achieve his vision. His campaign platform promises "transformational change" without any coherent economic vision to back it up. Instead he's asked voters to take a leap of faith on a pastiche of socialist promises such as universal insurance, coupled with a mix of capitalist imperatives to boost private-sector competitiveness. This mishmash of ideas has revived national memories of his mother's well-meaning but ultimately terrible economic management.

And so it should: the Philippine economy hasn't progressed much since that era. Some one-tenth of the population has fled overseas to find economic opportunity. Foreign direct investment has collapsed, with the country attracting less than $2 billion in net inflows last year. Rolling brownouts have returned to Manila.

The country also faces renewed threats at home, thanks to years of trying to negotiate with Communist insurgents and Muslim separatists. Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf operates in the country's more lawless territories. And as rampant pre-election violence shows, there's also the larger problem of enforcing basic law and order.

Mrs. Arroyo didn't tackle these problems because she didn't have a coherent program to do so, nor did she enjoy strong political legitimacy. She was brought to office by people power street protests, and her second, closely won election was marred by allegations of fraud.

Assuming no problems with the country's new electronic voting system which is being rolled out today, the next Filipino president shouldn't face the latter problem. That's a good start. But without a serious program of supply-side economic revival, starting with the liberalization of major industries, tax cuts and a real battle against red-tape and corruption, the Philippines may face many more years of hardship.

The article’s written on the day of the election, while there are yet no final results from the voting and people are probably still in the long lines, waiting for their turn to vote. This is definitely not the kind that you’d like to be put up in a site where investors' perception of the Philippines may be put in peril.

I therefore decide to check on the numbers, and see how the reaction has ACTUALLY been, a day after the election.