Elections, Government and (A Gandhi) Videotape

Elections is just around the corner. And so like any writer who wishes to be in tune with the times, I decided to write an article about it.

Over the past year, aside from the usual emails poking fun at the politicians as is the customary Filipino tradition, I have also received various emails denouncing and promoting this candidate and that candidate. There are also these open letters addressed to a particular candidate, to the Filipino people and also to Filipinos abroad. There are also these rather informative emails complete with file attachments of the portfolios and credentials of the candidates in a nice matrix form or powerpoint presentation. All of which has the intention of informing and educating the public to “vote wisely”.

But the funny thing about this is that the people who needs the most “informing” or “educating” are people who do not have access to email. They might even never have heard of the word. Now I’m not saying exactly that these people are dumb and stupid. I know of people who are already holders of masters and doctorate degrees who act dumber and more stupid than your average Juan Dela Cruz.

When I say “informing” or “educating” the public, I mean informing and educating the public about the whole electoral process, the democratic form of a republic, how a government should run, how a country should run, what is the government’s role in this, what is our role in this, and what are the implications of our vote to all these things. I’ve yet to see an ad, email or commercial which sincerely tries to explain these issues which I feel are the more important points of consideration during the electoral process.

And what exactly does one mean when one says “vote wisely”? Does this necessarily mean that certain candidates are automatically eliminated? Does this mean that we should choose for this particular candidate because of his/her platform? Does this mean that we should not choose this particular candidate because he doesn’t have the necessary experience or credentials? Because wisdom, if allowed to rule over our psyche, would choose candidates who have sound platforms and programs. It would choose sincere and noble people who have the country’s interests at heart, and not theirs.

For me, “voting wisely” has more to do with the decision-making process that takes place in choosing a particular candidate, and NOT in the actual candidate that we chose. What is the basis when you vote for a particular person? Is it education? Is it experience? Is it their platforms? Is it popularity? Is it the looks? Is it personal financial returns? Is it affinity? Is it vendetta? In the long run, the basis and the attitude that we use during the electoral process has a greater impact on the future of the country.

No matter how good our leaders are, if we do not train ourselves to become good citizens, then nothing is going to change. We will still continue to throw garbage into the sidewalks, the streets, our rivers and into any place just as long as it isn’t our neighborhood. We will still continue to jaywalk and beat the red lights. We will still continue to cheat on our taxes and pay our way around just so we don’t get caught (i.e. lagay). We will still continue to hang around sari-sari stores doing nothing, and expect this politician to give us free homes, free food and free schooling. We will still continue to settle for mediocrity instead of striving to develop our skills and knowledge. We will still continue to waste and splurge our money on extravagant items instead of saving it for a rainy day. We will still continue to look for the easiest way to a buck instead of simply working hard and earn an honest living. We will still continue to bicker around this issue and that issue instead of settling our differences and work towards a common goal.

It’s like a family. The government are our parents, and we are its children. No matter how good our parents is, if we do not listen to them, and continue to behave as badly as we want to be, then nothing’s going to happen. The role of the parents or the government is to provide some guidance and a model, and our role would be to follow them. We cannot continue to expect the government to give us everything we want without exerting any effort in return.

I then remembered a scene from the movie “Gandhi” which has some relevance to the topic. Towards the middle part of the movie, the Indians who were protesting civilly for their independence, suddenly saw a group of British policemen, who were considered to the enemy. They then ganged upon them and as I remember, some of them, maybe even all of them died. When Gandhi learned of this incident, Gandhi became disheartened about continuing for independence of India, and then mentioned something like, “If this is the way we act, as barbaric savages, then we are no different from the people that we seek freedom from, and so we do not deserve our independence.”

In the end, it is our collective effort AFTER the elections which can really change this country. Politicians, being the politicians that they are, play to the public’s favour. If we act like “dumb”, “un-enlightened” and “irresponsible” people, and we show that we can be swayed by popularity and showbizzy gimmicks, then these politicians will continue to feed us lies, to grandstand, to showboat and basically do nothing really to alleviate our conditions. But if act like “mature”, “enlightened”, and “responsible” citizens, and we show that we mean business, then these politicians would stop acting like celebrities and start acting like statesmen. They would have no choice but to shape up or ship out.

So come May 10 and the days after that, I’d just watch movies and the NBA playoff games rather than glue myself to the supposed “widest and most comprehensive nation-wide coverage” that the networks are offering. (Funny how both these giant stations claim to be such.) Call me apolitical or indifferent. In the end, it doesn’t really matter who wins. The future of the country does not really lie in the candidates themselves, but in ourselves. And we only have ourselves to blame, not them, if something goes wrong and we have to resort to yet another EDSA Quatro, Singko, etc. to change the people in power. Because we were the ones who put them in power in the first place.

If we cannot sum up our own courage and wisdom as a society to improve, then we do deserve the kind of government that we have right now.

So vote wisely. But more importantly, act wisely, too.


* This is a non-political ad paid for by the friends of the Filipino people.
UP Diliman, Quezon City