It’s not too late

PERHAPS it can be said that one of the factors why Filipinos as a nation and as communities have difficulty being united in purpose is because we are overly emotional about many issues, particularly elections that we hold every three years.

In fact, we recall that the only rare times our country displayed an outburst of national unity and pride were the days when Manny Pacquiao beat the hell out of his opponents overseas.

And, campaign and election periods are about the worst periods for us because these bring out the worst in many of us. Many find these occasions to defame and dishonor both candidates and supporters as justifiable and warranted and, therefore, without remorse. Our political system does not encourage us to make persons accountable.

That we have made and encouraged the standard that to run for public office one must have the financial resources, not necessarily the capabilities to govern and serve public interests. “If you can’t afford to buy votes, you can’t win” appears to be the new rule.

We need to effect meaningful changes in the way we elect our political leaders. It behooves us to contemplate how we have evolved as a community during campaign and election period and resolve to turn our backs on the corrupt system that has slowly swallowed us.

It’s not too late. Other towns have succeeded in electing farmers, lowly employees against the seeming endless rule of traditional affluent corrupt politicians. We can do it.

Just the beginning

DID your candidates win?  If yes, good for you.  Every victory scored is uplifting to the soul.  But if your candidates lost, don’t feel so bad.   Always, there will be winners and losers.  That’s democracy: Winners are products of the will of the people.  All can’t be winners.  There will always be losers or it would be useless holding an election at all.  Accepting the results with open arms, clean hearts and functioning minds is the noble duty of every freedom-loving citizen.  To your winning candidates, let’s pray and hope that they will do well in dispatching their duties as servants of the people.   To your losing candidates, cheers to them, too.  They may have lost, but their willingness to serve was already manifested when they ran for office.   Getting elected is just the beginning.  It’s how our winners will perform that matters in the end.

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments