Time to choose again

By Joshua Corcuera

Next week, May 9, Filipinos will go to the polls again to vote for candidates from the presidency down to government posts in districts and municipalities. In the Philippines, presidential elections are held once in 6 years, the 2022 presidential elections will have an enormous consequence on the politics of the country.

There are 10 candidates for the presidency, half of which are known names in Philippine politics. These include Vice President Leni Robredo, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, Senator Manny Pacquiao, and Senator Ping Lacson.

If surveys from Pulse Asia were to be believed, the race is shaping to be a two-way race between frontrunner Marcos Jr. and a surging Robredo, who upset the former for the vice presidency back in 2016. In social media, supporters of the two sides are everywhere. And in open spaces, rallies of the two camps attract huge crowds.

As I write this, Robredo is in a grand rally in Batangas that has a crowd of more than a quarter-million. Yesterday, she was in Laguna where more than 200,000 showed up. Recently, she went to Cebu where over 150,000 came in support of her; a few days after Marcos Jr. had a rally in the same province with more or less a similarly enormous crowd.

If visuals were to be believed, the most probable winner of the election would be between these two. But, why should we vote for a certain candidate? Actually, it is up to the voters on who they will vote for, and it is something that ideally must be respected regardless of one’s political ideology—be it in the center, a conservative, a liberal, the far-left, or the far-right. No one shall be detained merely because of his or her political beliefs (Art. III, Sec. 18 (1), 1987 Philippine Constitution). Going back to the question, why should we vote for a certain candidate? Conversely, why should we not vote for a certain candidate? From a personal opinion, the fate of the country is at stake with our decision who to vote for.

If we vote for someone with integrity and someone who has no tolerance for fraud, then it is possible for government institutions to be more transparent, less corrupt, and truthful in its actions. Not necessarily perfect, but certainly an institution whose actions are worth emulating. On the other hand, if we vote for someone who lacks integrity and is surrounded by figures who are notorious for crimes such as graft and plunder, then it is likely for red tape to continue within government institutions and, consequently, the masses will suffer as a result of poor governance.

We should also be mindful not only of ourselves, but of our fellow Filipinos as well, especially the youth. Would we like future generations to live in a country where abuse of power, brutality, corruption, and the like are rampant? Certainly no one wants to live in such dystopian circumstances. We aspire to live a comfortable and decent life in a nation where there is hope and a bright future for those who work with reasonable diligence. A nation where our taxes return to us in the form of better government services, access to quality education and healthcare, and a government that prioritizes our welfare, and not their self-interests.

Elections are one of the rare instances where everyone is equal regardless of who they are. The wealthy and the poor both represent one vote, so do the young and the old, men and women, country folks and urban residents. Let us not waste our power as a people this coming election day.