AUTHENTIC could mean true, genuine, reliable, dependable, trustworthy, accurate, and its antonym means false. As of now, while I am writing this, the counting of votes for our local and senatorial candidates is on-going. According to the partial results, some candidates are significantly way ahead than their opponents while some are just ahead with a small difference. But if we may ask, how authentic is the result? Can we honestly say it’s 100% accurate? Really?
Now there are two things we need to really look at here, namely, the process and the reasons for voting. I’d like to believe that the process is most likely accurate but as to the reasons for voting a particular candidate, that I strongly question and suspect that it’s more likely inauthentic. What could be the possible reasons why people vote for a certain candidate? Ryan DePauw (Nov 8, 2016) in his article, Why we vote for certain candidates? comments that, “For some, it may be religious beliefs, economic or education reasons, or foreign and domestic policies ideals.” No matter what or which category one’s reason for voting belongs to, what would make it really authentic is that if such reason improves our intellectual, moral and religious well being. Likewise, also if the ones we have voted for have the intellectual, moral and religious integrity. If our candidates who will win this 2019 election possess those three values or attributes then we can claim that we have the authentic winners or politicians. Then we can expect for a better country for it would have authentic leaders of the land.
Whoever will when between Mayor Leonardia and Atty. Batapa, as long as they remain authentic public servants, our beloved city and the people living in it can be smiling genuinely confident that something good, beautiful and true are about to happen. It goes the same with our incoming governor of Negros Occidental (former vice governor Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson) who if he will really lead the Negrosanons in “Loving Negros First,” then we can be assured of a better than before Negros Occidental.
However, the progress and improvement of one town, city, province or country does not solely depend on our government leaders. On their own, they can do very little. They really need our support (big or small) and cooperation. We must all rally behind them when they come up with policies and projects that are authentic, which means, they went through the processes of intelligent planning, reasonable judgments, responsible decisions an inspired by the motto, “Loving Negros and Philippines first” more than one’s self or self-interests.
May God bless our winners (and losers) in this recent elections and may everyone learn how to transcend or go beyond their biases and prejudices. I am inviting everyone, if we are really concerned with what is authentic and life-giving to reflect on and make true what Fr. Bernard F. Lonergan, S.J. once (in his book Methods in Theology, 1982) hoped for, i.e., that “There is an intellectual conversion in which we overcome naïve realism, idealism, conceptualism, and relativism by understanding what learning and knowledge are in the first place. There is a moral conversion in which we commit ourselves to pursuing true, objective values, as opposed to what is just conventional practice or our personal preference. And there is a religious conversion in which we welcome life as God’s gift of love. We draw on that gift to love the world, and everyone in it, with God.”