By Al S. Mendoza

 

THE race is on for the May 9, 2022 elections.

Our racers had their first official act of campaigning as provided for by law on Feb. 8.

From Manila to Naga, from Bulacan to Bantayog/Q.C., from Imus to Gensan, they unfurled their banners that screamed of the oft-repeated mantra of change, paraded on the streets on board an assortment of vehicles numbering by the hundreds, and delivered their typical fiery speeches in their frenzied bid to capture the Palace and live there, rule from there, hopefully for the next six years beginning on June 30.

It is a journey only destiny can design.

Among the 10 candidates for president, only 5 appear to matter: Leni Robredo, Bongbong Marcos, Isko Moreno, Ping Lacson and Manny Pacquiao.

They matter because they are on top of the heap in the nation’s consciousness for the longest time now.

They matter because they have the wherewithal to sustain their billion-peso campaign.

They matter because they’ve been in politics longer than the rest of the presidential pack.

Anyone of them has a chance to win as they consistently occupy the Top 5 spots insofar as the eye of the electorate is concerned.

Our 65 million or so voters will speak as one come the appointed time.

OK, OK, let’s include a sixth hopeful: Leody de Guzman.  Leody, the self-proclaimed workers’ bet, is a long shot to make it to the finish line.

And, hey, let’s not underestimate Leody, dismiss outright the courageous Cainta native.

Aren’t long shots the famous creators of astonishing upsets?

Who would ever think that Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) would knock Sonny Liston out in the seventh round on Feb. 25, 1964, to become, at age 22, the new world heavyweight champion?

Did the nation expect Cory Aquino to become our President in 1986?  And her son, Noynoy, replicating the feat 24 years later in 2010?

And wasn’t Jojo Binay supposed to succeed Noynoy until that maverick, funnily nicknamed Digong jetskied himself into Malacanang in 2016?

Indeed, no one knows for sure what tomorrow brings.

In this year’s presidential derby, the candidates’ public appearances will mean a lot again.

How they project themselves will remain as the basic ingredient needed by the people to base their decision on judgment day.

As a boy growing up in Mangatarem, I would always go to the town plaza to hear the candidates deliver their speeches during every campaign season.

I would go home telling myself that when I reached voting age, I would vote wisely.

I’d like to believe that I’ve been doing that since 1992.

I’ll do that again in May.

Vote for the upright, decent and honest.

Junk the liar, lazy and the thieving convict.

You need to do the same.

Otherwise, you will not only be voting wisely.

You will also end up a liar lover, a lazy thinker and harboring a thief.

You might also put the country in the hands of a convict for the next six years.

You know who they are.

You have the strongest and deadliest weapon to stop the fakes: your vote.

Do it.  And show your love, finally, to the Filipino people as well as to the unborn children of generations to come.

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