Voters are disenfranchised, election results are contested. Losers don’t concede.
Countless elections protests and counter-protests are filed, clogging the courts.
Many might disagree, but I think the only credible election that happened in this country was when Ramon Magsaysay won as president in 1953.
This was the election reportedly engineered by the Americans, notably Edward Lansdale, Gabriel Kaplan, etc.
The aim was to conduct the election in clear, clean and honest manner.
The Americans initiated the formation of the first National movement for Free elections (Namfrel), run by religious and prominent civic leaders.
They warned the Comelec to be prudent in the handling of that election.
They put the government under heavy pressure and persuaded officials to field all over the country those young, dedicated and idealistic college ROTC boys instead of regular soldiers to carry the task of guarding the sanctity of the election process.
Ultimately, the ballots were all accounted properly.
That was the only election that I suppose reflected the real and genuine sentiments of the people.
The rest is history.
Moalboal water
A beach resort where 95 percent of foreign tourists stay in Moalboal town, has no water.
While there is water in Moalboal proper, sadly, no water has been diverted to the beach area. I know of one tourist who has not had any water in his bungalow for seven days.
The mayor is not doing anything to help the resorts and promote tourism. In one party, he was reportedly overheard saying, “Tourists can not vote for me anyway.”
Comments like that show narrow thinking and lack of concern for the country, Cebu and its people.
Tourists have been checking out and going to other places like Bohol. Next year when they ever think of vacationing again, they will probably pick another country.
I ask the mayor to take charge of the situation and divert water right away to where it is needed. After that, the town can work hard on solving the water problem.
Tourism brings hard currency to the Philippines and it is here to stay. Deal with the problem now.
