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WHAT’S happening to us?” my retired public-school
teacher cousin exclaimed the other day upon reading the headline of
a national daily. She has opened a small store with a newsstand by
the national highway fronting the family home. “Here they are,
running for senator, and spending millions on TV commercials alone.
Why, if I were someone reading this, knowing that I don’t even
have enough rice for lunch, what will I do?”
Indeed, there was this national
daily that carried a front-page banner story that told of how three
senatorial candidates spent close to a hundred million for
television ad placements about their candidacy. The report was based
on a study of the Nielsen Media Research. This early, said the
report, the three senatorial candidates have each already spent
millions of pesos for TV campaign commercials.
But still, the amount appears to
be just the tip of the iceberg. On top of that expense by the
national level candidates, there are still the costs of operation of
the day-to-day campaign. But it’s not just the aspirants for high
offices, however. There are also those aspiring for LGU positions.
The amount spent when totaled would be truly staggering. But one can
look at it as cash infused into the republic’s economy.
However, it is a source of wonder
to many of us. In spite of the rising cost of getting elected to a
public office, there are still hundreds, nay, thousands of men and
women, who aspire to become elected officials. And on May 14 a good
number of our 40 million or so registered voters will march to
polling precincts.
They would write on the ballots
their final choice of candidates they want to elect and be an
official over the next three years. They would do so in the exercise
of their right to vote. That right, God-given, is endowed with a
measure of sanctity.
In the sense that the collective
results from the exercise of such a right, when translated into
votes, would grant the victorious candidate the authority to
participate in the governance of the nation, such a right to vote
takes on a sanctified value. And the successful candidate, depending
on how well, and effectively, he or she would perform his or her
public duties, would serve the welfare be of the country and its
people.
But why is it really that in our
country the act of choosing and voting for people to manage the
operation of our government has become so expensive? And still,
individuals who volunteer to undertake such management go out of
their way to spend much just to get elected. This should truly
arouse not just wonder but also a snaky suspicion their investment
would generate much bigger returns, if we give the notion deeper
thought.
Certainly, this is what must ail
Philippine politics today. Its top stakeholders are not seeking
public office really to serve the people or to do the work that must
be done by a holder of that office. They must be looking at getting
a government position as an investment. They know that profitability
is high, and the ROI could soar way beyond their expectations. The
goal to build a nation and serve its people is nowhere be found in
their agenda.
It is obvious to the discerning
public is that these people are motivated by the goal of developing
a political power base, on top of making great amounts of money, in
order to have a wider swath of personal influence in their political
turf, no matter the cost.
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