Vote Wisely

election season in the Philippines wakes up my brain a lot!

one thing that is common in all election campaigning in the Philippines (i dunno for the rest of the world), are these two words VOTE WISELY!

"who is Wisely? is that his first name or last name?", "why is he running again? his name wasnt even on the ballot!", "i voted for him last elections, but he did not win. too bad", "how does this Wisely look like?"

these are the common jokes i can think of when i hear about this phrase. Vote Wisely. what is it to vote wisely?

using the candidates POV, if you vote for me, you are voting wisely. for the opposition party, when you vote for the candidates in our party, that is voting wisely. for the administration, whoever we endorse and you vote for them, that is voting wisely. for left wing groups, to vote wisely is to not vote for anyone the administration presents forward. for the commoneers, voting wisely is to vote for that person who appeals to them alot (by appeal meaning "ma-appeal", the celebrity effect, thus may lead to voting for celebrities).

are these even substantial? i think this slogan will be as useless as its decal if you even think this way. that is why i am forwarding my view.

Vote Wisely is a very helpful slogan. a reminder that voting is not only a duty as a citizen, it is a right, and this exercise of your right will decide for the future... yours, your family, your friends, your neighbors. and this constant reminder asks you to think not only twice, but a couple more times if the person that you will be voting for is worth that pen ink, worth that printed paper, worth your time to write down his or her name, worth his or her seat in Congress, worth the salary from our taxes, worth the future that he or she has in his hands that we entrust to them.

like in getting into a relationship, these candidates are like our suitors or manliligaw. they show their good side first then it is up to them if they are naturally good or bad after we get to answer them with a yes. (a little wordplay. manliligaw is the filipino for suitor. ligaw, with a different intonation, means to mislead or wrong direction. now, is the manliligaw meant to mislead? hmmm...) like the one being courted, we are very vulnerable to their actions. if they show their qualities that we do not like, or if we something wrong with how they look or how they speak, we get turned-off and dump them. but if they are so sweet and so likable, then we tend to fall for them too thus in the minute that we realize that he/ she should not wait long, we say yes. that is how elections are. we get to the pit of seeing all the good side of the candidate, forgetting like on a clean slate what he or she has done in the past, what he or she would pose in the future. we forget how they became butterflies in the dance of politics, moving from one party to another just so to get the position they are interested in, or be able to have security that whatever happens, they are on the safe side (think of J. Osmena, T. Sotto, T. Aquino-Oreta). they said they swallowed their pride but it is not only their pride that they swallowed, they threw out those who at first believed in them that whatever they said that time was true. especially for Mr. Osmena's case right now, he was an oppositionist, then went under the administration ticket the last elections. unfortunate for him he was not re-elected to the senate. now he is running again to regain his glory under the opposition ticket! how so butterfly is that?! and he was saying that he was thankin his old party mates for accepting him back. he knows that he have wronged them and that he is angry with his last elections party because they did not give him the support that he needed (come on! maybe i should thank the people who did not vote for him! i guess its the people's mandate now, or the people's voice. cannot wait for May to come and see his standing). I am not pre-empting his hopes, since how can i even get the proper pulse of politics here, im in land faraway! but if he is one of those who are not elected in the senate, i must say there is some progress in Philippine politics (which of course if the opposite happens, along with the re-instatement of some of the other senators/ candidates on my block-list, then the Philippines is headed for more doom.).

with Boy Abunda helping Mike Defensor, he is headed to stardom! (advance note: Mr. Defensor is part of my so far 4man senatorial ticket draft). but i must say, for the love of the Filipino people, are we only seeking for stardom?! are we seeking for the masa appeal? are we seeking for the one who is labeled the Savior but can be as Trapo as anyone else?

Vote Wisely. To vote wisely means to do your research even before you vote. it means to get to know your candidates before you even memorize their names and its spelling to be ready for the ballot. the elections doesnt start in March, the elections started before we even knew they were to run. look at their background, their history as a public servant, analyze their pro's and con's as a leader. do not filter your brains right away with listening to those who you believe are on your side. listen to both sides. see what they stand for. see what they have to say. and analyze what youve accumulated. these information helps you decide if the candidate is worth your vote, coz you always count!

for the 80% of Filipinos who do not even care to know their candidates, please care. voting is only one day, but the consequences of our votes holds our future, and our lifetime.

that is one of the things i hope i can help you with. i will be using my blog page to try to introduce you to some of the candidates, for the senatorial race though, that may change our lives in the present, and future.

=o)