WE ALL aspire for an honest, open and peaceful election.
This May 13, we hope to see a successful and decisive staging of the country’s mid-term elections, a virtual referendum for President Duterte and his administration.
The verdict of the people will be handed down on election. Often, as mouthed by candidates, it is vox populi, vox Dei or the voice of the people is the voice of God, roughly translated.
I find it relevant to quote what former Senate President Manny Villa wrote: I hope our people vote with their heart and minds.
It is important to think and reflect before we shade the circles on the ballot. Every vote we cast will shape the future of our country.
As to the candidates, Villar asked: I also ask candidates to respect the will of the people. As much as possible, there should be no more of prolonged electoral protests. As the cliché goes: Let us be magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat.
So now our history will include the May 13 elections. Whether it be a good conduct of our electoral exercise or one marred by complaints and counter-complaints about the outcome, we are to decide.
Today, we enjoy a seemingly good and robust economy. Fair judgment dictates that we sustain our economic gains as we move forward to a strong republic.
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And what about the comical party-list system? I have written about my sour view of the relevance of party-list nominees in Congress.
Most of them do not represent the marginalized sector but are scions of rich businessmen and others represent big business.
If any, the law allowing the entry into the back door of Congress of these preposterous characters should be overhauled to allow the admission of truly deserving nominees.
And the names of party-list groups are downright silly and inconsequential. Better not vote for these comical characters.
--oo0oo--
Let us bear witness to what Philippine Star columnist Federico Pascual, Jr., said about the aberration that is the party-list: The implementation of the constitutional provision for party-list congressional representation of marginalized sector is disgusting. Well...