Election issues so far

China and POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) are conceivably fast becoming blunt instruments to damage candidates gunning for national and local positions in next year’s midterm elections.

Consider: Isn’t it a portent of where local politicking is going when the Philippine Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) blames the “incompetence” — which has a distinct aftertaste of massive graft and corruption — of incumbent local executives for the continued operations of illegal POGOs?

Or consider the national political arena. How long can a senatorial wannabe withstand the pressure to categorically state where he or she actually stands on the thorny issue of China amid the ceaseless synthetic pettifogging and contempt on social media?

All these questions, of course, are germane to the fact that in the country’s political calendar next week is the unofficial start of the campaign for the midterms where 12 Senate seats, the entire House of Representatives, and all local positions are up for grabs.

Yes, folks, we’re soon going to be sucked into dizzying vortexes of political pseudo-fights involving varying degrees of rancor and levels of accuracy, defiling further our increasingly algorithmic-determined politics.

Algorithmic since our addiction to social media has effectively made computer algorithms the invisible guiding hand on where our individual politics are presently at and going.

Algorithms, in fact, first shepherd and then trap many into three versions where the supposedly real Filipino “nation” is at: the pro-Marcos nation, the pro-Duterte nation, and the middle-class educated nation.

As expected, each “nation” or “bubble” has tailor-made megaphone issues and propaganda for its fanatics, adherents, and conscious or accidental followers.

Nonetheless, there are issues of national impact which transcend these “nations.” And, appreciating what these transcending issues are exactly helps us in tearing down the walled-in proclivities of these “nations.”

Considered opinion so far identifies China and POGOs as the defining issues of the moment which can possibly break down the walls of these “nations” while determining at the same time some of the major issues in next year’s polls.

With regard to POGOs, they’re on everyone’s lips. As one astute political commentator acidly remarked: “After generally turning a blind eye to them, officials high and low are suddenly filled with a new appreciation of the evils of POGOs.”

On the level of national politics, enough has been said about POGOs. But note that going by where most Filipinos stand on the issue, the continued presence of illegal POGOs is untenable day by day. A recent Pulse Asia survey showed nearly 85 percent of Filipinos are against POGOs.

More interesting, however, is the political impact of POGOs, particularly of illegal POGOs, on the fates and fortunes of local politicians.

The political fate and electoral prospects of both Bamban Mayor Alice Guo and Porac, Pampanga Mayor Jaime Capil are cases in point.

Both Guo and Capil are currently being investigated by the Interior Department largely on the well-founded suspicion “no self-respecting local chief executive can tell himself or herself that ‘I didn’t know they were doing this or that’,” says PAOCC.

Guo’s and Capili’s cases, therefore, are indicative of how a major national issue can trip up or snare scores of local executives and politicians should the authorities start dismantling some 300 illegal Pogos, which in recent months have relocated their operations to the provinces.

The curious case of Guo, meanwhile, is also raising fears of “a witch hunt for candidates suspected of being supported and groomed specifically to serve as undercover agents” of a hostile foreign country.

It is a belligerent type of politics which dovetails into the larger issue on how politicians should approach, conduct, and manage our souring and tense relations with China.

Considering that the Senate definitely has a say in the country’s foreign relations, a senatorial candidate now has the indispensable obligation to make clear his or her position on our relations with China, as well as our relations with the United States and other international and regional powers.