Because we gave up on civility

Why is there such support for the vice-presidential candidacy of the dictator’s son and namesake?

The civic spaces that the martial law regime tended to build to appease the people have been lacking in the post-Edsa I era. When the heirs of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos point to the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Philippine International Convention Center complex, and other civic spaces to highlight their “wonderful” legacy, there is hardly anything to counter it.

Why? Because the incivility instituted in the martial law regime was not dismantled. Greed, exclusivity and profit for the few replaced the dictator’s appeasement projects. No one fought to return real community and civility to society. Residential subdivisions that became gated and exclusive at the height of martial law continue to be the only model for development, even for low-income housing. Always, projects are conceived with designs, rules and regulations for housing that constrain developments and limit the right of people to use their hard-earned assets as a potential income-generating rental space for business. This leads to the developer-landlord being the only game in town in terms of commercial space rental.

In Quezon City, the lot on North Edsa that was owned by the National Housing Authority (an Imelda Marcos project) has been awarded to a mall developer when it could have been designed as a mixed-use area that would have generated diversity and opportunity for more people. The Manila Seedling Bank (also an Imelda Marcos project) was awarded for development to a private developer instead of being dedicated for the people to use as a park, and the city to use for lungs, with corresponding housing and commercial opportunity for small and big businesses to own and develop.

Government leaders have done little to pour money into opportunities for civility. We citizens pay taxes for the government’s use in building roads and parks and in providing utilities as well as security through a trusted police force, etc. But these have been left to private developers to accomplish. Of course, corruption becomes standard practice, because people are not demanding what their taxes are supposed to do. A kind of double costing (corruption plus developer cost) has been created; it keeps us as a country in poverty because we always pay too much for everything.

The priority of developers is their profit, so any giving that they do in terms of CSR (corporate social responsibility) and building donations must be questioned. The government is there precisely to address the civic needs of the people. But of course, public needs are unmet because the government tends to cater more to the interest of big developers than to design projects and help the people gain inclusion in opportunities. The latest travesty to civil life is that private malls are going to be used as election precincts!

There are so many examples in the world showing how to generate developments that are inclusive and beautiful. Yet we are so insecure in pursuing other forms of development because we rate “status” too highly and cannot jump out of our own shadow to explore better opportunities.

As Albert Einstein said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

Electing to higher office the dictator’s son and namesake who would justify the wrong values of his father will not solve this country’s problems.

Likewise, continuing on the insane path of exclusive development is not going to change things.

Our work is to create real community and inclusive civic spaces with honest leaders who hopefully will listen more and get it right this time around. That is the beginning of inclusive growth.

Jacqueline Cancio Vega is an architect, interior designer, planner, and farmer growing high-value vegetables in Aklan. She says she has pursued her interest in what makes for real community since her college days.