IN THE 2010 elections, not only the candidates but the voters must perform better.

This is one of the major messages that emerged from the civil society representatives joining the “Dialogue on Improving Media Coverage of the 2010 Elections,” the first of a series of consultations conducted by the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC).

During its 15th quarterly meeting en banc last June 25, the CCPC invited public and private stakeholders to share their perspectives on how the elections can be better covered.

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Defining and choosing leaders

In the CCPC dialogue, civil society was represented by the Cebu-Citizen’s Involvement and Maturation in People’s Empowerment and Liberation (C-Cimpel) executive director Marilu Chiongbian and church-based movement Dilaab Foundation Inc. coordinating steward Fr. Carmelo Diola.

Diola pointed out that the power of thinking voters was felt during the 1997 elections, when many basketball players running for office did not get elected, and the 2007 elections, when a majority of actors-turned-politicians unsuccessfully sought political office.

The message from these two precedents, he says, is that voters should “define who we want as leaders.”

Activating citizenship

C-Cimpel has been conducting voters’ education in far-flung areas.

While areas beyond the urban centers are bastions of traditional politics, Chiongbian said that there are significant grassroots initiatives that go against the tide of
patronage politics.

She cited the success of the Valladolid, Carcar priest in campaigning against vote-buying in the last elections. He convinced local candidates not to buy votes.

Successes like this should be disseminated by the news media to inspire and empower others, Chiongbian said.
Keeping score

In its July 5, 2009 issue, Sun.Star Cebu’s Debra M. Estero reported on the information campaigns conducted by the Aboitiz Leaders of Excellence (ALEx) to help youths “carefully discern and determine whom to vote for.”

Involving the more than 1,000 Visayas and Mindanao graduates of four Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi)-initiated youth organizations—the Kool Adventure Camp, Young Minds Academy (YMA), Young Minds on Xplore (YMX) and the Timawa Adventure Leadership Inc.—the ALEx, launched last July 3, was taught about the nine pillars of character and leadership, which youths can consider as a “scorecard” to help them decide who to vote for.

These tenets are respect, responsibility, citizenship, caring leadership, God-centeredness, trustworthiness, humility, fairness and integrity.

Starting with self

According to Estero’s article, Aldwin Joseph Empaces, a graduate of the first YMX program, believes that active participation in the elections begins with “(being) a-ware of the basic information on the voting process.”

Another scorecard based on a “behavioral-oriented model” is advocated by the Movement for Good Governance (MGG).

MGG vice chairman Guillermo Luz said last April that the scorecard considers criteria that are ignored by political parties that back up candidates based on “popularity, machinery and capacity to finance a campaign.”

According to the website, wedeservebetter.ph, the MGG model focuses on three Es: a good candidate should be effective, empowering and ethical.

Effectiveness is defined as “one’s track record, decisiveness and competency.” Luz was quoted as saying that having a selection criteria forces voters to think.

Chiongbian shared during the June 25 CCPC dialogue that being informed was a decisive step in making the right choice in the elections.

It is the better alternative to “Libog, Lubug,” which is a C-Cimpel slogan referring to the disastrous consequences of voters’ confusion.