History tells us that the present political system was copied from the United States of America. As early as 1903, political parties patterned after America were already organized in the country. Since 1945, elections have come to be seen generally as the best way of forming good governments, sometimes even as a ‘timeless’ and non-negotiable aspect of political life. Article 21 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in December 1948, famously set the standard: ‘The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage’.
With the closing of Comelec candidacy registration last October 16, 2015, we now have a view of the caliber of the candidates who registered and will be governing this country for a term in the future. Is there anyone among these candidates who has a potential leader quality? Are any of these candidates capable to influence the necessary reforms to better govern this country? Are they qualified to be representative of the people and to satisfy and prioritize the needs of the people they are representing? How many have held public office before or in the last 30 years, let alone the last 6 years, what significant contribution have they made to the country’s progress?
Our government is in so much mess with the dysfunctional machinery of government that any past President, Vice President, Senator, Congressman, or any public official even Judiciary branch has not a thing to claim that can be construed as positive and effective progress. So how do the people of the Philippines dream of betterment in governance with these prospective candidates for the 2016 election?
The deception has begun. Candidates are fooling the voters with empty promises. They may lack constructive governance ideas but remain persistent in gaining the voters’ nod in the upcoming election. What do these candidates really know of proper governance? Do they have sincere intentions of providing the needed services that the people badly need?
In addition to this questionable functionality is the Comelec and the questionable Smartmatic Automated Election System. Is this what the Republic of the Philippines can be proud of as the complete machinery of government? Truly it is an embarrassment to even be known to participate in this pretentious governance.
We are all proud of being Filipinos but we are very unhappy with government service, every aspect of it. It is there to deceive and make it hard for the people rather than serve them. Just imagine majority of people, normally the poor, cannot foresee what the future will bring. The youth cannot plan their career or even prepare, plan and organize their lives. Watching people suffer in every aspect of life is sickening and that is the reality with no other options. All the affluent people, politicians and government officials have selfishly created this environment that has enriched them with no care on how the rest of the Filipinos live.
Senators and Congressman are supposed to introduce, review and monitor effective legislations to enhance the complete machinery of government. They do not need projects, assignments or allocations. If they need to assist in providing their constituents’ needs, they can expedite the process by asking the department concerned to prioritize their request.
Just try to legislate that in the Senate and Congress and you will hear so much uproar. What they do not know is that Senate and Congress is supposed to operate only within the activities of legislations. This is common in most countries in the world but not in the Philippines. Perhaps it’s about time we think of the possibility of abolishing these houses where our tax money is uselessly spent. Not to mention the disgrace most of these solons bring to our country. It’s definitely a circus out there.
Here are some highlights of government credential services that our government has been providing so helplessly: Public Service will provide needed service that is involving the need to bribe to get results; DOH – people are left to die in their beds because they do not have money for the needed medicine; DOJ – people are in prison cells for a lifetime, they die and simply get buried with no proper investigation or analysis. How do you protect the citizens from deadly situations? Life is so cheap in this country. No one really cares; Education – changing quite abruptly to the K-12 system without proper planning and organization; DSWD – withholding assistance to the needy especially calamity funds and not providing the basic needs of the people; DOTC – dilapidated train services combined with lack of proper traffic management; Agriculture – plundering the needed support to farmers with corrupt activities; BIR – lack of proper infrastructure involving corruption as part of the system in ensuring tax collection are efficiently managed; and COA – selective auditing and not yearly periodical auditing to expose immediately accountability issues. That is the most essential administrative infrastructure needed in government.
Do you believe that all these registered candidates have the capacity to provide better governance with their present ability and past experiences? Have they performed to your satisfaction in the past? I can only count a few of them with my fingers. And now they expect us to believe that they have the capacity to make this country a better place? Sanamagan!
The public has awakened from a deep slumber. They can now clearly see the inability of these candidates to perform and abhor their devious manipulations. Media is no longer an influencing factor. Some candidates have tried using the social media not knowing that in doing so people can easily and quickly show disgust and discontent and give them negative publicity.
So who is your pick? Do you already know who you will vote for? Filipinos will have to discern much more. The problem is that majority of our non-tax paying voters can be bought. This is why all those running are in a frenzy trying to solicit more campaign funding. Businessmen are already hiding from them. What a country!
At the end of all these, we will be left with nothing but a dreamless prospect for the candidates in the 2016 election. What now our beloved Philippines?