📷: Screengrab from Amang Pintor YT channel
Paul Galang has been composing music for decades and touring in Europe, Japan and much of Asia to disseminate a message of hope for a benighted country, its wealth plundered by politicians, its people subjected to an irrational and bloody inquisition in the guise of a “war on drugs” that succeeded in adding more addicts to the 3.7 million individuals who had been dependent on drugs like shabu and fentanyl when Rodrigo Duterte paddled his way to Malacanang in 2016.
Eight years after his “change is coming” mantra, Filipinos are sinking in debt as Dutere double the debt stock, with nothing to show, as the compliant Congress gave him a carte blanche to borrow and spend as he wished during the Covid-19 pandemic. His emergency powers paved the way for scams like Pharmally, wholesale takeover of industries by Dennis Uy, now hounded by creditors, selling his assets from Malampaya to the casinos in Clark, Cebu and others, count in Wendy’s and Conti’s as his Duterte-dependent business floundered.
Now, politicians who left us in the lurch are back in business as the May 12, 2025 mid-term election approaches. Paul Galang sees the electoral exercise as nothing more than deja vu, mechanically repeating every three years. For the electorate to liberate itself from the corrupt electoral process, and think that this entire shebang is jamais vu and must be dismissed as a farce, voters being familiar with how fraud impeaches the very “result” of voting. Music and lyrics by Paul Galang, produced and arranged by Mandi Ferrer, artwork by Amangpintor, “Eleksiyon Na, Mag- isip Ka is an ALIBATA ( Artistang Lingkod Bata) production.
In “Eleksyon, Mag-isip Ka!” that Galang penned in time for the mid-terms, he says: Pag naghari mga berdugo’t diktador//si Hitler at Pilato ay magagalak//Magtitipon, magpipiyesta kampon ni Satanas//tuwang-tuwa ang demonyong papalakpak// Pulitikong may kasong katiwalian//away pulitika palusot na dahilan Pag nagsakit-sakitan apila sa hukuman//hospital arrest na kaparusahan// Koro:Eleksyon na, Eleksyon na, Bayan ko Mag-isip Ka (4X)//Sa eleksiyon magsasayaw, manlilinlang//hayop na kandidatong mandarambong kupit na perang paagaw, singilin sa magnanakaw//‘pag natalo ang korap, wala ng maghihirap//Pag nagwagi ang maka-Diyos at makatao’na lider manggagawa at magsasaka propesyunal, kabataan, negosyanteng Makabayan//pagbabagong tunay ay makakamtan// Pag natalo ang korap ng makatao’t Makabayan//sa pag- unlad ay walang maiiwan// Pag natalo ang korap ng makatao’t Makabayan//uunlad ang buong sambayanan//Pag natalo ang korap ng makatao’t Makabayan//mag- aawitan anghel sa kalangitan//Pag natalo ang korap ng makatao’t Makabayan//magdiriwang ang buong sambayanan//Pag natalo ang korap ng makatao’t Makabayan//ngingiti ang Diyos sa kalangitan.
Consider this song as an anthem against traditional politics and the rule of political dynasties, an indictment of the doleout politics funded by taxpayer money, with money-grabbing politicians earning their recurrent “reimbursements” through the annual budget, the “unprogrammed appropriations” (UAs) that are subsidized by domestic and foreign borrowings totaling billions monthly, razing the national coffers and compelling lawmakers to inflict more onerous taxes on taxpayers. Galang sees an option that voters should take, which is to vote in those who have stood by the workers and peasants for decades, championing their cause at the House of Representatives and in the streets, where the people’s parliament actually holds session.
“Eleksyon na, Mag-isip Ka!” is certainly longer than your typical campaign jingles as it distills the aspiration of people who are now saying enough of the Dutertes and the Marcoses, the Villars and other political dynasties that have long eviscerated the corpus of our political “order.” The ditty wants none of the two faces of the same coin, one faction bragging about “change is coming,” only to inflict scams and political Ponzi schemes. Another is a practitioner of the politics of indolence, the exemplar of the Juan Tamad of our times, who is lazy about investing more on our farmers and workers and who think that raising wages is the same as punishing capitalists who can afford to pay more. Too lazy to study and too lazy to act. But quick to let the people hang out to dry.
With both the Duterte and Marcos Jr. camps engaged in mudslinging and sullying each other for their common vice—which is to raid the national coffers to protect their own interest—the Makabayan Coalition presents an alternative, a platform that clearly draws the line between decent, pro-people politics than the politics of plunder that the Marcoses, Dutertes and the Villars represent. With more partylists exposed as being the Fifth Column of political dynasties and even the servitors of the worst human rights violators this side of earth, progressive partylists have become more attractive. The 11-member Makabayan Coalition senatorial slate surely represents an alternative to the Duterte slate, which was organized precisely to act as a foil to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of more Duterte cohorts.
The two opposing camps do not present any viable platform that voters can analyze. They have been reduced to currying favor with voters who have been generously given doleouts, which is a euphemism for bribery, and they will pay dearly for the “pay-to-vote” scheme that insults voters and reduces them to jukeboxes belting out songs that trapo candidates want to hear. Yet, the only jingles worth remembering in the past 50-or so years was the one crafted for Juan Ponce Enrile. Remember “Aksyon Agad, Enrile?” The complete jingle goes like this: “Aksyon agad, Enrile… (tuta, tuta, tuta!) Surely, the ageless Enrile remembers that jingle. If you like that one, surely you would dig Paul Galang’s take on the current crop of politicians. And there are a lot of Marcos Jr. puppets running, and a lot of Duterte puppets, too. It is time for voters not to sell their souls and elect Makabayan senatorial bets. Choose those with a clear, concise and viable platform. You are free to choose, aren’t you? (DIEGO MORRA)
