Misplaced hero-worship is a scourge of democratic elections

By Jose B. Maroma Jr.

 

Last year, before the ABS-CBN shutdown, I predicted in jest that Vice Ganda may top the senatorial race if she runs. This was not so much a forecast as it is an indictment of the way we elevate sports and showbiz personalities to exalted positions in government.

Sociologists and political analysts have come up with explanations of this social anomaly but simpletons like me who don’t want to thread through the maze of scholarly jargon have advanced our own down-to-earth hypothesis: it’s all because of poverty.

Poverty breeds misery and misery, in turn, craves entertainment as a measure of relief, albeit temporary. Our sports and cinema heroes provide the flying trapeze that transports suffering citizens to the wonderland of knights slaying dragons and two-fisted heroes beating unkempt tough guys. This kind of entertainment may be fleeting but constant viewing develops a kind of adulation that subconsciously becomes a cult of worship.

Some of us may have heard stories of how fanatical fans in movie houses down south would rise and shoot at the screen when it shows bad guys pummeling the hero. I can still recall movie scenes in my boyhood when moviegoers, especially the women, would shriek with delight whenever a jeepload of policemen arrive at the scene to rescue a hostage victim. This tendency of substituting fancy for reality subconsciously spills over to the mindset and affects our views and judgment.

Poverty denies access to good education and adequate information needed by voters to make intelligent choices, giving rabble-rousers and bribe-givers a field day. This problem will continue to be a drag to our progress unless we tackle the root cause of misgovernance which is poverty. Our political artists, instead of solving the ills of the nation, are exploiting ignorance and misery for their selfish ambitions.

The problem is exacerbated by our notorious ‘bahala na’ and defeatist attitude which holds that “the next one will be just as bad as the present’, so what the hell!  It’s time we rise from indifference and remember a quote from Jose Rizal in El Filibusterismo, “there are no tyrants where there are no slaves.”

The author is a retired civil engineer from Cabatuan, Iloilo. He likes to spend his time reading and writing on the burning issues of the day.