It’s a cold and lonely day.
Naturally, I love rainy days, but today was a bit different. The sky was extra gloomy. The streets were a bit too quiet. I am not that happy.
It was just a while ago that I found out the result of the 2013 Election. Well, since we are already upgraded and started using PCOS Machines, there is a small possibility of ballots or results being changed or manipulated. All results, I believe, were cast by the Filipino voters themselves. So what made it too sad, you ask? Well, in my opinion, a lot.
It is just here in the Philippines that an impeached former president gets to be elected as Mayor. It’s also only here that a person with no actual experience or political background (even as a Councilor or SK Chairperson) gets elected as Senator. Another is that it is only here that a candidate running for Mayor (current Mayor before the 2013 election) gets the second highest votes even though everyone in his area knows that their water supply can’t be fixed because the budget intended for that is nowhere to be found.
With issues like this, who really is at fault? As I said a while ago, we are already using pcos machines, so if a person gets a certain number of votes, it means that those are the number of people that actually voted for him or her. Is it the “below-standard” qualifications of candidates we have? Is it vote buying? Poverty? A lack of better candidates, perhaps? Or is it because of the people itself? The people who doesn’t think long term. The people who blindly picks our representatives. The people who are voting just based on the family name that the candidate carries. Those are some of the reasons why I can’t blame other people for not practicing their right to vote. It is simply because majority of us does that. Isn’t it absurd? Don’t you feel ridiculous?
What could be possible solutions to address these issues? I guess, one could be to revise the qualifications of the candidates. Don’t you think that in order to run or be a representative of a country, one must atleast have a clean record? How can people trust officers or candidates that have been impeached or charged with an offense? “Kung nakapag-nakaw na nuon, bakit hindi ngayon??” The good things you did before doesn’t justify the bad. So without candidates with bad records, there will be better opportunity for the new or unsung ones, don’t you think? Another could be that the candidates should climb a ladder first before reaching the main positions. Try working as an SK Chairman or a Councilor first before upgrading to the Vice Mayor or Mayor’s position. After that, you can go for the SENATE. Your parent’s credentials are not yours. Your parent’s accomplishments aren’t yours either. Try standing with your own feet; not behind their shadow. When you become a Senator (which you are now) and something comes up, what will you do? How will you decide? Based on how your parents would or did? To earn the respect of the people, show them you are worth trusting. Show us what you’ve got and how patient you are. Have a goal; climb the ladder like normal people do. Don’t fly up because you’ll miss all the important things and pointers you must know. Don’t take advantage of the weakness of the people. Teach them instead.
I mentioned vote buying a while ago because especially in provincial elections, it’s all over the place. I encountered a person running for Mayor (the following term after his term) that paid people a thousand bucks each for them to vote for him even though they know he corrupted the money for the improvement of their water line and several land owned by people in their town. So who’s more at fault? The greedy one that wants another term to get all the land and money he wants (again)? Or the people that let him do that to them? The people that prefers to eat good food for a week, but suffers longer? The people that curses him, but because of a thousand bucks, almost ended up electing him again?
So now you tell me, what do you think is wrong??
<3,
chefcams
One STEP. One BITE. 