Quid pro quo

For the uninitiated, there is an ongoing impeachment inquiry in the US House of Representatives regarding an alleged quid pro quo arrangement proposed by President Trump with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensk.

In the United States for a couple of days and I have heard and read the Latin phrase quid pro quo more times than I have in my lifetime prior this trip. America is crazy about quid pro quo, because of the contentious impeachment inquiry on US President Donald Trump.

Quid pro quo is the fancy phrase for the longer, more illustrative and less bourgeois version, “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” In Tagalog, we have a single word for this — “kaliwaan” — hopefully not indicative of how often this happens in our country.

Politics in US media is heightened right now. Apparently, the US held elections last 5 November without any fanfare, unlike in the Philippines where any tourist will convincingly and surely know that elections are going on. Being a federalist country, elections were held only in certain states, particularly Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, New Jersey and some other states for their local legislatures.

I had no idea elections were being held until I saw someone in the subway wearing an “I Voted” button on her shirt. In the evening news of election day, results started to trickle in and some historic firsts happened yet again. Virginia, a traditionally Republican state, had a lot of Democrats that won, while, in Kentucky, the first African American, who happens to be a Republican hardcore supporter of Trump, was elected Attorney General. Yet all this was still overshadowed by the quid pro quo news about Trump.

For the uninitiated, there is an ongoing impeachment inquiry in the US House of Representatives regarding an alleged quid pro quo arrangement proposed by President Trump with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensk, where the former purportedly dangled $400 million in military aid as long as the latter announces that Ukraine shall be investigating the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, who was said to have ties with a gas company in Ukraine. Biden is the leading Democratic nominee for the presidential elections in 2020.

I personally see nothing illegal or wrong in quid pro quo on a small-scale, mere mortal level. Quid pro quo I think is essential in politics. History shows us several quid pro quo arrangements.

If I may share, my wife and I got to watch the blockbuster Broadway musical, “Hamilton,” and there was a scene where the phrase quid pro quo was mentioned to the amusement of the audience who laughed as they instantly connected it to the hottest news topic. I thought it was an intended pun, but I found out that it was really a line in one of the songs in “Hamilton” entitled, “The Room Where It Happens.”

In “Hamilton,” the quid pro quo arrangement was a compromise. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton will get support for his financial plan from Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic Party as long as the capital of the US will be situated in Jefferson’s home regions. The lyrics go like this: “Maybe we can solve one problem with another and win a victory for the Southerners, in other words. Oh ho. A quid pro quo. I suppose. Wouldn’t you like to work a little closer to home? Xxx… Well, I propose the Potomac. And you’ll provide him his votes. Well, we’ll see how it goes.”

Most certainly, it is different nowadays, especially when heads of states, millions of dollars, and extreme political consequences are involved. If you ask me, the impeachment will not fly, but hey, don’t take a Filipino’s word for it. We’re not much affected by impeachment hearings in Congress; it’s too routine to us in political cycles. President Rodrigo Duterte himself has admitted to certain quid pro quo with the Chinese, but no one has really bothered to file an impeachment complaint on this ground.

Fast forward to the latest news in our country — Vice President Leni Robredo’s acceptance to lead the charge against the government’s fight against illegal drugs. It was the right choice for VP Robredo, though I think she had no other choice. With the acceptance, she will co-chair the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, together with chief Aaron Aquino of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. VP Robredo will have a say in policy, and we all know her stance in the Philippines’ drug war.

For outsiders, this should be an exciting development in Philippine politics, something that may make or break the administration now in its final two-plus years, and with this setup, we can expect some fresh quid pro quos. Keep your eyes peeled.