Pinas Forum

I agree that this would go a long way in the fight against corruption, some of the so-called corruption that elected govt officials engage in is actually their idea of compensation for their campaign costs. Not that that is OK, but that is RP politico logic. Thus, election subsidy for accredited dominant parties by the Philippine govt is a definitely commendable.

But Im not sure how good an idea it is to allow foreign states to subsidize same the election run of Filipino candidates in high office. On the one hand, theres that possibility there in an innate conflict of interest between let's say Chinese and Filipino interests. But on the other hand, the US govt has, covertly and openly, constantly interfered in RP politics anyway, and we have been unable to stop it. And between China and the USA, China has certainly behaved much better. Further, the path of international politics now is globalization and regionalization to strengthen ones competitiveness, as the EU model has proved. And we are Asian and part of the ASEAN.

And if our politicians are to get it from Filipino businesses, I am not sure if the results are going to be any better. Although, a good argument in their favor is that they are Filipinos and presumably would be pro-Filipino. However, this has not always boded well for the Filipino and, in fact, may have brought the worst consequences in Philippine history. We had the monopolies of Marcos cronies during martial law, many of the cronies were the Filipino businessmen who had supported Marcos presidential campaigns. And you have the ongoing Cheaper Medicines Bill being blocked by businessmen in the pharmaceutical and related businesses, including doctors, themselves Filipino.