COME the May 13 elections, we should be in the process of recovering from the assaults that were inflicted upon our senses. These assaults include the jingles that haunt our eardrums as they set camp there for the sake of recall. How about the primetime commercials with their taglines, scenes “in-action” and “here’s what I’ve done for you” approach by the candidates who were out to get our votes? Don’t get us started with the carpet of visual bombardment conducted by countless posters featuring their photoshopped faces. Imagine all of the money spent for a seat in city hall, the congress, and/or the senate. To this we can counter-quote the Joker in the Dark Knight Rises when he said that, “It’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message.” In our case, during the elections, it seems that it’s all about the money.
Yet we will still be there. With the helter-swelter heat of the sun, Filipinos will come in throngs to practice what countless Filipinos have practiced before due to the graces provided by democracy. There will be 18,503 posts that will be up for grabs for those who are dying to represent the Filipino people. Majority of these individuals come from families who have long been playing the game of politics like the Game of Thrones. Recently, there has been talk of how to curb, if not to eradicate completely, this exercise of familial politics and nepotism by the select few. We already know their names; it seems that since time immemorial these names have been ingrained in our consciousness as voters. The pictures of those who are running may change, but most of the time, the family names remain the same. We forget the travesties, schemes, and offenses they or their family members have committed against the Filipino people; this amnesia has led to the revisionists of history and the opportunists to take advantage. But we are still insisting to practice this right believing that a single vote will contribute to monumental change.
Politicians are extensions of the Filipino people. They are there to serve them. The power they wield should be used to empower others. We have spent a great deal of misery in the past under different colonial masters. Until now, the traces of these “insecurities” still linger around us, and most of the time, we inflict it upon ourselves. But the democracy we have secured provides us a chance to enact change. A singular vote charged with intentions to boost this chance for positive change on behalf of Filipinos, especially the ones who can’t vote—the marginalized, the poor, those who didn’t make the COMELEC deadline, and definitely the children— will mean a lot. So make that vote count.
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