Politics and sincerity rarely mix

Rarely, not never.

Fortunately, there still are some people who truly see themselves as public servants, not politicians, and they do have their hearts in the right place.

But... there are very, very few of them.

Some politicians start out with good intentions and pure hearts. But somewhere along the way, especially once money comes into play, they lose sight of those good intentions.

Money changes the landscape completely. Why?

For starters, it takes a ton of money to get elected into office. I can't speak of other places, but in the Philippines, don't even begin to think you can win a political race with very little resources.

Maybe a handful can, but the strategy employed to accomplish such feat also requires money. Maybe even more so than when running for office.

When I covered political beats while working for a newspaper, I vowed never to work for a politician. I had seen enough of the maneuverings and mud-slinging and back-door negotiating to make me swear off being on the other side of the fence.

Of course, I ate my words. Need and despair make you clutch at opportunities you wouldn't necessarily seek had things been better.

Since I had some experience about politics, though as an outsider looking in, I had this idea that we could truly do some good the right way. For a while (usually at the start of the term and with re-election still several months away) you can actually do that.

(In the Philippines, local elections are held every three years. One can run for, and serve as a congressional, municipal or town official for three consecutive terms or a total of nine years.

Seasoned politicians or those belonging to political clans usually take a break of one term, and someone from their camp takes over for three years before they run again for another three terms.)

But once the next election is looming in the horizon, everything changes. Rules change. Plans change.

Unless you've set up something huge in the first 18 months that has made an impact on the constituency, you're going to be playing catch up the last 18 months to ensure you're coming back into office.

Catch up usually entails a lot of financial resources.

Unfortunately, the Filipino electorate has yet to mature that they can discern who can truly serve their best interests. Instead, money talks. Whoever gave the highest amount prior to election day gets their vote.

So, even if the alternative would be the better option, they still go for the traditional politician who handed them a few hundred pesos (the more generous ones give out a thousand). And it's a big lie when they say no vote selling happens during elections.

(It made my stomach roil to have to arrange for the withdrawal and transfer of millions, in 20 peso-bills, to be used for the campaign of one of my principals. The money was going to be given away in the run-up to elections.)

It is pathetic how sovereignty is given little value here. But then perhaps hunger speaks louder than principle so the politician will always win over the public servant.

So, where is sincerity in all this?

When someone aspires for political office, they go out of their way to listen to the people's sentiments. And when you do talk to them, you'll have this sense they are genuinely concerned about the plight of the people they are looking to represent.

At the start of their political term, they will attempt to live up to their promises... until they run into the problem of resources. Then they will finally realize that their vision requires millions, not just thousands, to successfully achieve.

To get adequate resources will now require compromise. Political favors. It's very much learning how to sleep with the devil. The goal now isn't so much as addressing a valid concern of their locality as it is to have something to show for come re-election time.

Whatever good plans were in the pipeline will likely be pushed to the backburner in favor of something requested by a political patron. It has now become a political game.

And like they say, in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

When you're ready to throw ideals and principles out the window for political survival, it means losing integrity and alongside it, sincerity.

I can attest how these politicians can sit down with a desperate constituent seeking help for whatever legitimate concern, look them in the eye, then promise to help resolve the problem, even ordering in front of the audience to get the job done pronto.

But once the constituent is gone, they can dismiss the concern or just order some cursory assistance to pacify the person when they return to collect on the promise.

That's sincerity for you.

Politicians, or very few of them anyway, know how to say sorry. Even if they committed a real terrible mistake. It is like beneath them to apologize simply because they hold some elective position.

Instead of apologizing, they will gloss over their mistake with some empty gesture hoping the public has a very short memory and forget what they did wrong.

The one thing that completely stressed me out working for politicians is their promising the moon without even asking how it can be achieved then dumping the task on staff who have to move heaven and earth to get something near impossible done.

Sometimes, even I can't believe being able to do something that seemed unfeasible but by some miracle is accomplished.

Perhaps, it is the enormity of what they face as elective officials that makes them let go of their morals. Or ambition eventually clouds their judgement.

I hope I still get to meet an honest-to-goodness public servant who simply sets out to change one little thing at a time so they can keep their integrity and remain truly sincere in wanting to serve.

I hope, too, that my countrymen would eventually decide to want real leaders with their best interest at heart, and not people just out to take advantage of them in their pursuit of personal interests.

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