OUR column today has chosen this widely cited title as the current election season moves nearer to the May elections. This series today is also part and parcel of the notable concept of the close connection between democratic elections with Philippine history and culture. Both titles have started from our earlier and more specific question in this mini-series: “Why do Filipino voters act as they do?”
In all of these brief discussions, the vital aim of this column has been our often quoted underlying concern of helping promote the education of our voters to participate properly and intelligently as their crucial choices for the elected national and local officials will affect the lives and future, positively or negatively, of their families and the entire nation.
Consistent with what many people have tended to believe, if the country has not been progressing over the past decades, it is mainly because, for various reasons many voters have chosen candidates who have failed to give their best efforts, with honest, efficient and effective leadership and management in good programs and overall essential public services which can more substantially lessen widespread poverty, hasten inclusive economic growth, improve nationwide public health care, strengthen universal education, construct essential infrastructures, promote peace and order, strengthen people participation in public affairs and provide other urgent needs of our country.
These enumerated national and local programs which must be led and managed well by public officials recall the historic statements from our history and culture of past leaders whose lives made the Filipino people more hopeful for a better future. Thus, this column has repeatedly cited their notable statements relevant to our history and culture and particularly underlying our electoral political exercise.
For Dr. Jose Rizal: “Tal pueblo, talgobierno” or the people and the government are basically reflections of each other. For Pres. Manuel Quezon: (in paraphrase) “I prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans.”
And thirdly, popular movie actor Dolphy, who answered an interview question that, in paraphrase, he was not interested to run for the presidency, even if he were very popular and had a good chance to win, because he was afraid that he might win and since his entertainment career and popularity did not prepare him for public office, he would not be able to properly serve the people.”
This column has repeatedly quoted these three notable Filipinos who have indicated their adherence to the best principles of Philippine democracy relevant to our history and culture.
To highlight the question of why voters today voted as they did in the past and seemingly following a negative culture, our column today will initially mention more specific factors which have been happening in various past elections.
One such factor is the widespread observation that many voters are seemingly not correctly informed of the real issues in the elections in the past. For this reason, appropriate voter’s education is very essential. Related to this factor is the matter of many voters exercising their democratic right not for the best candidates but for some negative cultural or personal reasons including the temptations of vote buying, irrelevant popularity useful in the movies but not in public service, misplaced sentimentalism which mislead voters to make questionable choices, choosing candidates with doubtful integrity or behavior and believing in various wrong propaganda.
In our coming column we will offer various suggestions on how people or citizen’s groups can help prevent or mitigate these various malpractices during elections which have happened in the past and are inconsistent with our positive cultural values.
(For research and other requests, please contact the author at Negros Occidental Historical Library, South Wing, Provincial Capitol Building. Tel. # 213-4234/433-2574 or email: roquejrhofilena@yahoo.com.ph.)