Tuesday, February 06, 2007 Speak out: Political circus By Akbayan youth cebu and movement for the advancement of student power-cebu, student council alliance of the philippines
WE, young voters, express disgust over the political circus that is taking place in the country as politicians scramble to place themselves in winnable senatorial slates.
As we launched our “Boto Ko, Anti-trapo!” campaign, we remind young voters to be vigilant and to observe who among the self-proclaimed senatorial candidates should be avoided at all cost.
We are sickened by the horse-trading and indecent maneuverings of politicians just to get a position in a slate that they deem would deliver the much-needed resources for their campaign.
We lament that, in the opposition, administration and even the so-called “third force,” the basis for unity is money, machinery and fame; not platform or concrete programs.
Young voters should veer away from personality-oriented politicians and consider as trapos candidates who have no concrete platform, are corrupt, and use violence and fraud to win elections. They should not be voted for.
Among them are former senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta and Tito Sotto, whose party-switching demonstrates traditional politics at its worst.
We also challenge the so-called “third force” to demonstrate their independence and autonomy by presenting a distinct platform.
We, young voters, should constantly remind candidates of their obligation to treat elections as a sacred pact between a sovereign people and those who seek to represent them.
Traditional politicians have reduced our electoral process into an arena of who could cheat the most. We need to restore what is essential — the politics of fair play and the free market of ideas.
We have to put politics and elections within the realm of programs, platforms and meaningful political ideologies.
