Educating voters

THIS week marks the start of the official campaign for the national positions. It’s also the start of a political circus marked by TV and radio ads, provocative speeches and statements, dancing and singing on the stage, etc.

Through it all, what is lost in most voters’ minds is the vision and capability of the candidates to deliver on their platforms and messages on basic issues: Delivery of Government Services, Campaign vs. Illegal Drugs, Improving Peace and Order, Protecting the Environment, Improving Infrastructure Standards, Access to Education and Information, and Creation of Livelihood – all minus corruption. For sure there are more issues and advocacies that the candidates will be asked to respond to but sticking to the basics will already serve the advocacy for good governance.

To bring about more discerning voters, public debates are being scheduled by Comelec but these are far and between and not easily accessible. To broaden the base of discernment by voters in our midst, we suggest symposiums to be organized by schools and colleges, civic, youth, barangay and religious groups, and invite local campaign leaders of candidates as resource speakers to explain their respective principals’ vision and platforms. A debate can, of course, be more interesting. These forums will be more helpful than just designating common poster areas and rely on advertisements on mass media to educate us.

Only a pro-active community can help shape its future.

 

Enrile fires blanks

THE nation was disappointed with Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s alleged expose in the Senate regarding the gruesome 2015 Mamasapano Massacre that claimed the lives of 44 members of the elite Special Action Forces of the Philippine National Police.

Because there was no new evidence from Mr. Enrile to pin down President Aquino as the “sole culprit” in the deadly operation that killed its target, international terrorist Marwan of Malaysia, the Senate committee that probed the tragedy concluded that its earlier report on the case will remain unchanged.

Actually, the report, signed no less by committee chair Sen. Grace Poe together with fellow senators like Senators Chiz Escudero and Gringo Honasan, among others, has said Mr. Aquino was “ultimately responsible” in “Oplan Exodus” that undertook the Mamasapano project. Even as Mr. Enrile had emphatically said in the reopened Senate hearing that “President Aquino had a direct hand and knowledge” of the operation, there was nothing substantially new there. Thus, in the end, Mr. Enrile had merely fired blanks. What a waste.

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

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