Bayani: A Hero?
A small-town mayor became president. He was, his supporters
said, popular with the urban poor but alienated the
middle class. This spelled his doom. Fernando was a
small-time mayor who wants to become vice president.
He attracted the middle class but alienated the urban
poor. What doom awaits him?
BY RICCO ALEJANDRO M. SANTOS
Bulatlat.com
Bayani Fernando, the Philippine Lee Kuan Yew. This is the upbeat image of the
current Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair and the former mayor
of Philippines’ shoetown, Marikina. From local czar, Fernando however is
now gunning for no less than the second highest seat in the land, the vice-presidency.
Fernando first blazed into prominence among Metro Manila private motorists and
middle-class crowd, when as mayor, he drove off small hawkers and vendors from
his city’s streets, apart from running by typical Metro Manila standards
an efficient traffic operation. This feat caught the imagination of the urban
motorist set and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who catapulted him to the
top MMDA post and sought to spruce up her own public image with his newfound
popularity.
As MMDA chair, Fernando replicated his Marikina formula on a much larger scale,
in major streets of the rest of Metro Manila. As the scope of his functions grew,
so did his media projection.
The new, sanitized look of Metro Manila sidewalks
cleared of vendors soon earned him the status of Philippines’ new media
darling, as press pundits lionized him as the efficient manager the country needs.
Now, even Fernando thinks so as he has announced his candidacy for the vice-presidency
and has gone full blast in trying to maximize media mileage with his own television
program in a government station.
Despite Fernando’s wide appeal to an urban-middle class, he has his own
share of disbelievers. Recently, I asked a taxi driver what he thought of Bayani
Fernando as vice-president. It so happened that he was a Marikina resident, so
I waited eagerly for his answer. He scoffed, “Oo, malinis nga ang mga bangketa
sa Marikina. Nakakadagdag doon na nababawasan ang mga tao. Umaalis kasi ang marami
at lumilipat sa ibang lugar Paano, kokonti, bagsak na ang pagawaan. Wala nang
hanapbuhay sa Marikina.” (Yes, the streets are clean in Marikina. It helps
that there are fewer people there now. Many are leaving and transferring elsewhere.
What would you expect when factories are few and closing down. There’s
no livelihood left in Marikina.”)
Hit by globalization
Marikina, the country’s shoe capital, is one of the towns hardest hit by
globalization. As Italian shoes flood the markets, sales of Marikina-made shoes
have slumped sharply. Though urban motorists may be thrilled by the spic and
span of Metro Manila sidewalks and the high visibility of Fernando’s traffic
force, the Metro Manila poor are not as impressed.
Metro Manila vendors complain that they have no other legitimate livelihood to
turn to but selling in sidewalks, where their customers are. While Singapore’s
industrialized and truly modern economy can absorb most of its vendors kept off
the sidewalks, Metro Manila’s third world, pre-modern economy of 12 million
residents and three million transients cannot.
Joblessness, a major complaint
of the urban poor, haunts Metro Manila. Despite Fernando’s harsh crackdown
on sidewalk vendors, many hawkers continue to ply their wares in the nooks and
crannies of the urban jungle, fighting what appears to be a guerrilla war of
survival against the Fernando police.
Peace and order
Fernando’s message of peace and order and clean sidewalks may ring a bell
with the urban middle-class voters. But, without a program for national industrialization
to employ those displaced from the sidewalks, Fernando may be hard put to court
the vote of the poor, who remain the bulk of the country’s voters.
Moreover, Fernando belongs to the team of President Macapagal-Arroyo, in charge
of administering the country’s globalization program. As globalization
creates more joblessness as in the Marikina shoe belt, Fernando would find it
difficult to project himself as a creator rather than as a destroyer of jobs
for the poor.
At the moment, Fernando remains “Mr. Clean” to the public. But his
recent and short stint as concurrent Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH) could raise doubts about his credentials as graft-buster. According to
columnist Federico Pascual, DPWH insiders reported to him that Fernando quickly
bolted out of the department, after corrupt politicians complained to Malacañang
about Fernando’s meddling with their pork barrel and kickbacks. If correct,
the column implied that Fernando simply kept silent about both the DPWH corruption
and the Malacañang protection.
Critics also point out that Fernando’s apparent efficiency is also coupled
with a callous ruthlessness. Church and activist groups have questioned the high
incidence of police brutality in the dismantling of vendor stalls during MMDA
operations. His reputation as a berdugo (tyrant) soared when he threatened to
pour kerosene on the merchandise of vendors to discourage them from selling—a
tactic endorsed by Malacañang through its spokersperson Ignacio Bunye,
Jr.
I am reminded of a small-town mayor who became president. He was popular with
the urban poor but alienated the middle class. This spelled his doom. Fernando
was a small-time mayor who wants to become vice president. He attracted the middle
class but alienated the urban poor. What doom awaits him?
Bulatlat.com
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