There is something deeply troubling about the growing acceptance of an idea that should never have become normal: that a politician’s personal relationship with the President determines whether a province gets projects, funding, or attention.
Public funds are not favors. Infrastructure is not a reward for political loyalty.
Government projects are not personal gifts from one politician to another.
Yet the language surrounding development increasingly sounds like a discussion of political access.
Who is close to Malacañang? Who has the President’s ear? Who belongs to the President’s circle? Who can call and get an answer?
When these questions become more important than population, poverty, disaster risk, infrastructure gaps, economic potential and actual public need, something fundamental is being distorted.
A road should not move faster because its local politician is close to the President.
A hospital should not receive funding because its political sponsors have influence.
A flood-control project should not depend on friendship.
And a community should not be made to feel that its development prospects rise or fall with the changing fortunes of political personalities.
Political coordination is part of governance.
National and local officials must work together. But coordination should serve public policy, not replace it.
The Constitution and our laws provide mechanisms for allocating public resources.
Congress deliberates on the national budget. Agencies assess projects.
Government is supposed to operate through institutions, standards and documented needs.
If political proximity has become an informal requirement for development, then the problem is bigger than favoritism.
It means citizens are being taught that government works through connections rather than rights.
That is a dangerous lesson.
Projects should follow need. Funding should follow evidence. Priorities should follow public interest.
The President may have political allies. Congress may have competing factions.
But taxpayers should not have to choose sides simply to get the government services they already paid for.
#Opinyon8News #Editorial #WeTakeAStand