“Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road.” — DAG HARRARSKjold (1961)

It will be tragic for the Philippines if the next president will be elected based on pay-per-view commissioned popularity surveys and media hype, and nothing else.

Recent examples in the last decade easily come to mind.

In 1998, President Joseph “Erap” Estrada came to power in a landslide victory only to be ousted from office after 2 ½ years by EDSA-DOS people power.

Then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the administration party also won by a landslide.

Both outstanding personalities from two opposite political parties enjoyed unprecedented popularity.

President Estrada was subsequently convicted of plunder, albeit pardoned, and served his prison term in stately exile in his country estate in Tanay, Rizal.

Meanwhile, Vice President Gloria Arroyo succeeded the deposed President, as mandated by the Constitution, in 2001.

Since then, owing to Erap-inspired destabilization protests, coup attempts, corruption, and the global economic crisis, the satisfaction and popularity ratings of President Gloria Arroyo have consistently been going south to below negative zero for reasons beyond comprehension, notwithstanding her impressive infrastructure accomplishments and skillful steering of the economy.

Across the sea, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra won twice by landslide, only to be deposed by a military-led coup, and subsequently exiled abroad and ignominy.

Today, the “Red-shirt” followers of Thaksin are now the ones destabilizing and tearing apart Thailand.

First, presidential aspirants all pledge to effect dramatic changes in Philippine society once elected.

It is a political commitment and a solemn promise in which voters have heard many times before in earlier elections.

Truth to tell, it is the existing oligarchic political system that shapes, or reshapes, or steers Philippine society, and not political leaders while swallowing them into its black hole.

One in power with his relatives, classmates, cronies, and court jesters, the next President will find it more prudent and more convenient to temporize and work within the system, and gradually relegate Constitution and fundamental reforms to the backburner. Instead, he will address the more mundane and urgent retail issues, such as, power shortage, budget deficit, taxes, Cabinet appointments, legislative agenda, the speakership, and other down-to-earth issues.

Second, the tolerant oligarchy-dominated political framework not only allows corruption to incubate and spread but also tolerates anomalies, immoral and illegal activities from election frauds to election overspending, illegal posters, untruth in advertising, and worst of all, manipulated and fabricated popularity surveys and media hype which are a gross disservice to the nation and to the Filipino people.

When all is said and done, regardless of who will be the next President, especially if they will be elected by hype and not competence and merit, and no immediate Constitutional revision, corruption will continue with a new set of corruptors, expensive elections, excessive politics, “balimbingism,” and more scams because the system allows and abets them.

Since democracy has many faces, meanings, nuances, characteristics, and “nationality,” it has its basic strength and virtue pari-passu with its weaknesses, abuses, and negative aberrations.

You be the judge.