"This doesn’t quite answer the question: how are campaign expenses recovered? Like any investor, the typical campaign donor wants a handsome return on investment. And payback time starts as soon as the winners are known. Distribution of the spoils is now underway. Businessmen, religious and special interest groups, they’re all starting to collect their ROI. Senators, like other Philippine public servants, receive modest pay. But they are each allotted P200 million a year as pork barrel. Although they don’t actually get hold of the money, they get to earmark their pet projects – useful in building political support. More importantly for lawmakers who want to repay campaign debts or receive fat commissions, they get to pick the contractors. Enforcing transparency in campaign finance should give the public an idea of who might be a winning candidate’s favored contractors or lobby groups. Winners in fact owe the biggest debt to the people who voted for them. If anyone needs an abundance of repayment, it should be the Pinoy voter. And the best repayment is efficient public service. For the voter, good governance is the best payback. It can start with better regulation of campaign finance."
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:36:57 +0000
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