Election is democracy’s gift to this nation’s filthy rich

By Al S. Mendoza

ELECTION in this country is basically a circus.

But still, we do it regularly so that tomorrow, we all vote – most of us, anyway, if not the majority of the Filipino people.

Man, by nature, loves to fool himself.  And election is one such event that affords man to be a kid once again.

So, from Laoag to Legazpi, from Manila to Maguindanao, from Bicol to Basilan, the exercise of fun is on.

But fun as it may seem, it’s the law.  It’s in the Constitution, the basic law of the land.

Like tax and death, election is perennial.

Like leaves turning from green to brown, election is a cycle.

Like Holy Week happening once a year in the Catholic world, election comes around once in three years.

But why is an election a circus?

It is, because it champions democracy.

Democracy is that system we all love to shout to the world as the engine that guns up the greatness of a nation.

Up till now, nobody’s seriously saying that’s merely lip service.

For, among the so-called democratic countries, only the US is the legitimate robust economy.

Likewise, democracy makes us free—the so-called essence of existence.

Thus, in a democracy, everybody’s free to say what he deems is right, but within the bounds of decency, legal tenets and moral grounds.

Under a democracy, election is a must.

Under a democracy, everyone of legal age, sane, is allowed to participate in an election—whether as candidate or voter.

Only in the presidential derby are the rules strict.

Or, shall we say, only in the presidential derby that democracy takes the back seat.

For example, a farmer or a carpenter, a fisherman or a tailor, a tricycle driver or bar tender, is not allowed to run.

Reason?  Any one of them doesn’t have the money to mount a campaign nationwide.

In short, because they are poor, they don’t have money to buy votes.

C’mon, isn’t a free T-shirt given to a voter a form of vote-buying?

In short, the common tao cannot run for president on a platform of honesty, of decent livelihood, of clean living.

Bottom line:  Democracy is good for the filthy rich but not for the dirt poor.

Democracy benefits the wealthy but not the marginalized.

OK, you say in mayoralty contests and other electoral battles outside of the presidency, democracy is at work: No one’s barred from running, except the insane.  Even convicted rapists are allowed to run.

Drat.

Erap, a convicted plunderer is now running for president.

Thus, election is a circus.

My beef is, since it is a circus, why are convicts and those behind bars and facing rebellion charges, murder and the like, are allowed to run but not the insane?

OK, I take it back.

I’ve just realized that tossing the insane into the show might spoil the fun.

With them around, the certified clowns might yet miss their cue in the biggest circus in town.

Happy viewing, err, voting.

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