Is your silence being sold?

We all know how it feels. You are stuck in a traffic jam that lasts for three hours because the road is flooded or you are looking at your grocery bill and wondering why eggs and rice are so expensive this week. Usually we just blame the government and then we go about our day. We think of politics like our television show and we only pay attention to it when it is time to vote and there are posters everywhere with catchy music playing. Here is the truth: The flooded roads and the high prices are what happen when we are not paying attention. If we only pay attention sometimes then we are not just being passive we are giving away our power for free.

Political literacy is not about memorizing laws or using words when we are talking to someone. Political literacy is simply knowing what is going on. It is being aware of how the money that is taken from our salaries or our daily expenses is actually being used. If we want our lives to get better we need to stop being fans of politicians and start checking their work.

The reason this is important is because of the problems we face every day. Remember when there was a scandal about a trillion pesos being spent on flood control? Billions of pesos were supposed to be used to keep our feet dry. When it rains heavily our cities still get flooded because of bad planning and projects that do not exist. If we were more aware of what's going on in politics it would be harder for this money to be wasted. We are also being flooded with news and edited videos on social media. Without some understanding of politics it is easy to believe what we are shown instead of what is really happening.

Some people say that politics is a luxury and that ordinary people are too busy working to care about it. They say that if people are struggling to feed their families they do not have time to read about what the government's doing. This is exactly why politics is important. The reason it is hard to feed our families is because of a law or a budget that was passed when we were not paying attention. Being aware of what is going on is not something only rich people can do; it is something we all need to do. We cannot afford not to care about politics.

The solution is simpler than we think. We do not have to go to school to learn about politics. We just have to start asking questions. We should not ask politicians to do us favors; we should ask them why there is no medicine at our health center. We should not waste our time watching videos on our phones; we should use them to get the news and stay informed about what's happening in our community.

Being a citizen should mean more than just cheering for our team. Being a citizen should mean being in charge and knowing exactly what our leaders are doing with our country. Politics is not about voting; it is about our daily lives, our schools and our hospitals. If we pay attention to what's going on we do not have to wait until it is time to vote to get the change we deserve. We can make a difference every day by being aware of politics and what our leaders are doing. Politics like the price of eggs and rice and the flooded roads are all connected to our lives.

Edrian Karl B. Bazarte

Third-year Political Science student

University of Cebu Main Campus.