Up the campaign standards

CAMPAIGN season for local candidates kicks off this coming Friday, March 26. Will it be the usual circus of singing and dancing, sloganeering, excessive posters, instant noodles giveaways, and cash dole-outs that we have become accustomed to? It does not have to be.

First in line who can make the pivotal difference are the candidates themselves. They must acknowledge that the voting population has matured since the return of democracy in 1986. Elections for congressional representatives and local government positions have been on a three-year cycle since 1987 — that’s makes for 9 past local elections and we are on to our 10th^th. It’s about time, if not long overdue, that we raise the standards of campaigning in our towns and the province.

Enough with the let’s-have-a-party! gimmicks. Voters don’t need to be entertained by showbusiness personalities, they’ve heard enough slogans, seen enough of politician’s smiling faces, and are not assisted out of long-term poverty with one-time giveaways of grocery bags and P500 bills.

What the candidates must now lay out to the people is more substance: a platform of governance; specific projects for the communities; proposed resolutions to pressing problems relating to natural resource management, garbage disposal, employment, and healthcare, among others. Enough catchy but meaningless promises. A realistic action plan is what’s needed.

Meanwhile, the media, civic groups, non-government organizations, academic institutions, and professional and religious groups can take on the very important role of helping educate the voters. Non-partisan forums should be organized to give the public a chance to engage the candidates in some serious question-and-answer, seminars about the procedures for the first computerized election will help quell fears and ensure a smoother voting process on polling day, and talks about the basic morals of voting as a right and responsibility will remind people of the value of their vote.

And the voters, of course, must show that they have indeed grown up. They must realize that the campaign period is not some kind of extravagant fiesta celebration. Rather, it is that crucial period where they can get to learn more about the candidates and be able to decide whether they want clowns or serious servants as their local leaders.

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