So the senatorial elections from my country has just recently concluded. Since the campaign period till post-election day, several criticisms and black propaganda were fired against the running politicians in all mediums of communication possible. One of whom that particularly caught my attention was a female hopeful, who is supposed to be a daughter of a so-called "trash politician" who served her father's office as an OJT for 20 years and who, as of press time, might have already been officially-declared as one of the new senators. Several stones have been casted upon her and I couldn't help but also give my take on the issue.
Come on, people. Cut her some slack. Give her a break already. Whether we like it or not, she will be one of those who shall be serving the nation in the next six years. It may be too ambitious of her to have ran for senator right away without having any political experience at all, but hey, it is in fact in our law that anybody has the right to run for office given that they meet the requirements, though sadly, political experience is not one of them. But then again, being experienced doesn't necessarily mean being a cleaner, lesser evil, right? Don't get me wrong. I myself, did not vote for her (yep, proud absentee voter here). Not because of her skin color nor of her stained family name, but because I believe that there are far better candidates than her who in my opinion, can do the job better.
Come on, people. Cut her some slack. Give her a break already. Whether we like it or not, she will be one of those who shall be serving the nation in the next six years. It may be too ambitious of her to have ran for senator right away without having any political experience at all, but hey, it is in fact in our law that anybody has the right to run for office given that they meet the requirements, though sadly, political experience is not one of them. But then again, being experienced doesn't necessarily mean being a cleaner, lesser evil, right? Don't get me wrong. I myself, did not vote for her (yep, proud absentee voter here). Not because of her skin color nor of her stained family name, but because I believe that there are far better candidates than her who in my opinion, can do the job better.
Don't blame it on the party that supposedly convinced her to run in the first place. Don't blame it on the computer/internet illiterates who sold their votes in order to have meager amount of money to fill their hungry stomachs. But rather, blame it on those who knew better but have chosen not to vote and instead strolled around the mall or busied themselves crushing candies; because they were too impatient to fall in line at the voting precincts or because their votes were too precious that they believe nobody deserved them. Statistics says that majority of the voting population belong to the lower class, meaning those people who do not know what Twitter or Facebook is or even the internet for that matter. So all those tirades posted on social networks were actually just useless. It would have been wiser if one had gone out of his way to keep the uninformed informed. 'Coz we know better. Most importantly, it would have been helpful if all of the middle and/or upper class population exercised their right to suffrage. 'Coz we know better. It could have, though not necessarily, changed the results of the election. Cliche as it may sound, but it is true, a single vote makes all the difference. Your favorite candidate may have won. And your candidate may eventually be the one who can stir change for the better. Domino effect.
Easy for me to say, you may think. But if we continue doing nothing, not making our votes count come every election time, then we also denounce our right to complain as politics gets dirtier and as the country's situation becomes more rotten than it already is. Like I've said, domino effect.
Right now it is not about wait and see what the newly-elected officials can do for us during their term. It is about what we can do ourselves as citizens of the country. As for this female senator I was talking about, I hope she can prove all of us wrong. If not, there is still the next election. By that time, I hope and pray that all voters will be wiser and more vigilant. It's about time. No, scratch that- it's been long overdue. We all want and deserve a better Philippines, don't we?
Right now it is not about wait and see what the newly-elected officials can do for us during their term. It is about what we can do ourselves as citizens of the country. As for this female senator I was talking about, I hope she can prove all of us wrong. If not, there is still the next election. By that time, I hope and pray that all voters will be wiser and more vigilant. It's about time. No, scratch that- it's been long overdue. We all want and deserve a better Philippines, don't we?
