Party loyalty

There is logic and merit in the explanation that the withdrawal of the nomination of Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer by the Nationalist People’s Coalition was his disloyalty to the party. While he was with the NPC, he was also with the United Negros Alliance. In a word, he was riding on two parties.

As I always say, if one cannot be loyal to the party or a church, a little decency dictates that one should leave the organization or the church whose beliefs run counter to one’s  faith.

The problem with this explanation lately announced by the NPC and repeated ad nauseam by the publicists of the camp of Vice Governor Alvarez is that it does not go back into a recent past, a rather clever attempt at deception.

 NPC was founded by former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco and so was UNA and, in fact, the candidates ran under this banner without as much as a whimper from the NPC or from UNA. It was, in effect, a political marriage intended to consolidate political power in Negros and also a smart move to reduce the cost of the political campaign.

The distinction in this union is really an illusion. The members of one are members of the other.  The parties are two faces of the same coin and the dominance of the NPC-UNA presented a political group that is formidable in that it eschewed others except those who want to be subservient to the leadership.

In effect NPC/UNA brought into its wings all parties without distinction except with one condition – obedience.

This happy situation was shattered when Rep. Alfredo Benitez of the Liberal Party who came under the UNA wings for political expediency provided the NPC/UNA with information that Governor Alfredo Marañon, who thought Benitez was an ally, had no support among the mayors.

Why he made this misleading report can later be understood in the light

of perceptions that he was involved in the attempt to have the Provincial Capitol lot sold/lease to SM Prime Holdings of which he allegedly a business partner.

This is believed to have led to NPC’s sacking of the governor without informing him of his “fault” which tuned out later to be false. But the deed was done and the inevitable march of events leading to the disintegration of the NPC/UNA coalition began.

When the collapse of the delusionary union of NPC and UNA became clear, why didn’t NPC draw the line and announce that those who will not support its anointed gubernatorial candidate will be stripped of membership? Why did NPC allow its erstwhile allies to file their certificates of candidacy using the NPC as a nominator?

If it did, this embarrassing and counter-productive action would have been avoided because NPC has every right to nominate others.

Loyalty is not a one-way street. While the members must be loyal to the organization, the organization must also be loyal to its members. Loyalty is earned, it is not imposed. An imposed loyalty is fear of loss, like in the case of NPC, the money that NPC is expected to dish out to subservient politicians who cannot on their own win without the largesse from the party.

But this loyalty is a fake and disintegrates when the expected funding does not come or when it falls short of expectations.

If loyalty is then to be the measure for the sacking of Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, this same yardstick should be used in other cases. Why was the opponent of Ferrer an NPC Independent? Why did the NPC allow his opponent to use the NPC party affiliation?

It can be argued, though it may not be true, that Ferrer opted to go with Marañon because NPC had allowed an opposing candidate with the NPC label. NPC had not been loyal to its member as it was not loyal to Marañon when it unceremoniously removed him from chairmanship of NPC.  

But as Shakespeare would say, “All’s well that ends well.” 

Marañon is right. The delineation of the party membership strengthens UNA even if its founding father has disowned it by punishing those who remain loyal to UNA. The UNA membership is unfazed with the expectation of funding from NPC and of the NPC whose remaining members are uncertain of whether they would be sacked for no known reason.

Recent developments are already indicating this possible shift within the next several weeks. The expected funding has not come at this late hour although media support has increased with maneuvers that leave a scar in the broadcast profession and integrity of media outlets.

The handling of Marañon and Ferrer has in fact created a fear among planters, politicians and media in Negros that dictatorial hands will dominate the province in the event Alvarez wins. Déjà vu!  That we must resist.*

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