PAKIALAM KO?!

Barak Obama raises $32 million in three months, beating Lady Hillary's $27 million. All that to fund the battle for the Democratic nomination...and for the victor, the "main event" next year. Jeez, where's all that money coming from? Of course, it's all transparent. Barak's camp says 154,000 donors contributed this quarter, up from 104,000 in the first quarter. And that's just for the two Democratic frontrunners; haven't counted the Republicans'. Big bucks for big stakes. For whom?

Reminds me of our own elections. It's a seasonal industry on its own...once every three to six years the economy perks up. Billions of pesos suddenly appear, like the Bacharach tune...this case, longing to be spent. For whom?

I had a "passing conversation" with Con-Gen Ariel Abadilla (he was quite literally passing through our DC Embassy when I chanced upon him) about this recently. The topic was elections and political campaigns, initial focus on the Philippine midterms, but it soon slid to Filipinos in America. Serving in a state that has the distinction of having the first Fil-Am Lt. Governor and Governor (Benjamin Cayetano: 1987, 1994-2002), first elected member in a state legislature (Peter Aduja, 1955) and first elected mayor (Eduardo Malapit, 1975 of Kauai, Hawaii) -- I asked why Filipinos appear slow to build on the initial political breakthroughs of their kababayans? I was talking about Fil-Ams all over the US.

He suggested culture and exigencies could be factors. The average (and more numerous) Filipino in the US is more preoccupied about earning a buck (to have enough to send back home...in 2006, Fil-Ams sent about $8 billion to the Philippines -- more than half the total dollar remittances). Or they could be busy tending to family (walang "maid" o "yaya" dito). Or busy watching Wowowee on TFC. The men could be out fishing, the women in the mall. Fact is, politics -- American or Filipino variety -- is very low on the scale. They just don't care. Even if there's a kababayan on the ballot. Sad but on the whole, true...at least from where I'm standing.

Pinoys/Fil-Ams already comprise 1 percent of the total US population, and yet according to the best reckoning less than a hundred are in elected positions -- that's about .000003% -- mostly in very localized offices. Jeez, I can get better odds playing lotto.

They're also saddled by a kind of political ambiguity. Although an exit poll during last year's US midterms indicated majority of Fil-Am voters are Democrats, the average Pinoy (yup, it's them again) see themselves either as "Republican Democrats" or "Democratic Republicans". As one Pinoy comedian pointed out, "dun tayo lagi sa panalo!".

ConGen Abadilla adds Pinoys have an entirely inverted view of politics (or could that be the other way around?). Back home, politicians give us money...here, people give money to politicians. Could that be the meaning of "participatory democracy"? I'm not sure which works better. If you ask an American and a "kababayan" back home, they both feel they got fu...d by their elected leaders. So who cares?