In the past few weeks, I’ve encountered relatives, friends, acquaintances and random people who said they’ve lost interest in casting their vote in today’s elections, citing the quality of the likely winners based on survey results, particularly in the senatorial race.
Others could hardly come up with a complete list of 12 worthy candidates. Most of them have stopped at four to five. Why? Most of the 66 candidates for the Senate who passed the scrutiny of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are unsuitable for the positions they’re seeking.
Popularity, or notoriety in some cases, in fields unrelated to lawmaking boosted the survey ranking of most of the aspirants, regardless of their unfamiliarity or, probably, wrong notion or understanding of the job description they’re applying for.
Based on the statements and responses of some candidates to questions thrown at them during interviews or press conferences, it would seem that they were thinking that the job of a senator is to distribute dole-outs (ayuda), scholarships, guarantee letters for health-related concerns and recommendation letters for employment. They think that the Senate is one big charity institution and placement agency to provide for the basic needs of their poor constituents.
Instead of giving them votes and even encouraging others to support such candidates, voters should take it as an insult to be treated so lowly by promising to help uplift their status without presenting a clear legislative agenda, by dancing out of step, by singing out of tune, by giving away jackets or what have you. We should not let this opportunity go to reject such candidates. Go out and vote!
In the local elections, particularly in Metro Manila and other areas where you don’t know your neighbors and community leaders well, choosing the best candidate among the contenders is indeed quite challenging.
You’d wish every province, city and town had someone like Vico Sotto of Pasig — young, reform-oriented, inspiring and with a clear platform for good governance. Some areas do have good candidates who are courageous enough to fight corruption and committed to truly serve the public but, unfortunately, are pitted against moneyed opponents who could easily sway their constituents into believing their empty promises.
Every Filipino voter must understand the importance of the right to vote, that it is not simply about shading the ballots on Election Day. Now that the filing of certificates of candidacy has been set more than five months before voting day, voters have more time to scrutinize every candidate’s qualifications, legislative agenda or platform of governance, and capability to perform the responsibilities and tasks of the position desired.
Elections give voters an opportunity every three years, or every six years for the president and vice president, to reject non-performing, misbehaving, incompetent, corrupt and other types of bad leaders and replace them with aspirants suitable for the position. Every election presents a chance for improvement, not deterioration of the quality of the leaders we choose.
We should not allow the results of preelection surveys to dictate or influence our choices. In past elections, the actual winners could have appeared in surveys because there were voters who did not want to vote for candidates who did not fare well in the preelection polls. Surveys have a measly 1,200 to 5,000 respondents. Registered voters total more than 68 million. While they say that survey results have statistical bases, these are not always accurate.
Take note that even the heads of the survey firms have advised voters to cast their ballots based on their individual analysis or scrutiny of candidates’ qualifications and not on survey results.
While all candidates promise to serve the people, particularly the poor, most of them actually end up serving their personal and partisan interests. Many of them even have the gall to invoke the name of God in promising to serve. Most of the time, those who do so — some even quote biblical phrases — are those who don’t deserve to be elected.
For us voters, we should elect candidates who are committed to serve the communities and the country instead of thinking of our personal benefit. We should choose leaders who are motivated to listen and represent the interests of their constituents, and not those whose concept of public service is dipping their fingers into the public coffers for self-promotion.
Before shading your ballot, keep in mind that with your vote, you hold the power to decide the well-being of future generations. Make your vote count for good governance.
It may be a cliché, but please be wise in your choices.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
This column also appeared in The Manila Times.
