Saving our Dignity

The run-up to tomorrow’s mid-term election has turned very ugly. As ugly as the streets and highways peppered with illegal postering.

Blood from the violence has yet again stained the pages of our history. The killing of San Carlos City Mayor Julian Resuello, which follows a series of election-related murders in different parts of the country, set off President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo into some grandstanding speech about putting a stop to the hostilities, which in turn prompted coverage all the way to the international press. Needless to say, our beautiful archipelago was once again projected to the world as a crazed nation.

Intimidation once more reigned as epitomized by no less than the President herself with her order to send the military to take control of some corners of the capital Metro Manila. Here in Pangasinan, people in many towns and cities know and understand the meaning of living under terror and threat.

Vote-buying, especially at the local level, has become even more rampant and the electorate is as much to blame as the politicians. The dynamics are no different from how the market forces of supply and demand operate in a capitalist setting. We’ve said it here before and we will say it again: Politicians will buy votes for as long as there are voters who are ready to sell.

Sadly in this campaign period, guns, goons and gold have once again proven themselves king in Philippine politics.

What’s more, the political bickering from foul-mouthed politicians has left a stinking scent in the air.

But we can still salvage our dignity as a nation. We can still show that we deserve the democracy that we enjoy. And tomorrow, May 14, is our opportunity to do that. 

The pre-election season has been nothing to be proud of. But we can still take pride in the choices that we will make. Our vote could prove to be our salvation.

And let’s light a candle and say a prayer for our public school teachers, the Commission on Election, the police force and the members of non-partisan volunteer groups who will be guarding the ballots that we will cast. The danger of dagdag-bawas is clear and present.

With the vote-buying, intimidation and violence that went on, we can only believe in so much honesty and peace in this election.

But we can, at least, still hope for wise votes and credible results. And we can definitely clean up those horrible hodgepodges of posters.

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