Roperos: Making political choices

TRUTH to tell, up to this moment, for the first time in memory, I am challenged by the reality of my inability to make the choices now of whom to vote for in the coming elections. I have been used to being able to prepare my personal lineup of candidates from the national to the local level, and then watch how my choices would conduct their campaign during the run up to Election Day, changing some names according to personal judgment as the campaign progresses. But this time around, I have just a few names.

What seems to make things difficult is the multi-party system, the influx of candidates who all believe they have their respective lien on all positions up for grabs, believing in their multifaceted qualifications that would make them fit any position they would aspire for. I greatly admire Chiz Escudero for his decisiveness. He was definite and single-minded about what position he wanted, and failing to gain assurance for it, he gave up.

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This is the problem with the other aspirants we have. There are aspirants I truly like, but in the process of pursuing their political aspirations, they refuse to face the realities of their political circumstances. Thus, just to fulfill their aspirations no matter what, they join forces with the others even if, in the matter of ideology and political principles, they do not match. Just so long as they are able to pursue their ambitions in politics, to hell with ideology, personal principles one holds dear, and political philosophy.

There is one who aspired for the presidency when he visited the Sun.Star Cebu office. I liked his attitude and his political orientation. Then the next thing I knew, he had teamed up with someone I have no respect for, politically or personally, as the latter's vice presidential teammate. There's another I thought from the beginning as still too "unripe" to tackle the refined ramifications of public administration management and national governance. But he insisted on running anyway against the grain of emotional maturity.

At the local level, since I am confined to candidates of my town, I have only the mayor and vice mayor candidates, one board member and a congressional candidate. I am still unable to complete a whole local slate. But in the city, even if I cannot vote, I have sort of made some choices. But I have no gumption to divulge them, simply because it is personal. But during the campaign period, I may write about the politics of the city, in the same manner that later on, I may have to write about the presidential tussle.

What appears sure, though, is the difficult task of sorting out the political aspirants who will be able to gain political ground as the campaign progresses. With automation, and the stringent measures that the Commission on Elections will employ to protect its integrity as the conductor of the "national election symphony," in the hope that at the close of the exercise we will have our collective national life, settle back to normal once again, until the next political exercise.