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- "A government by the
people and for the people". Democracy stands on the
pillars of this axiom as declaimed by Johnson. We vote
whoever is to our opinion has the moral capacity to
uphold the essence of our democratic principles. Since
the day of Philippine independence, we had duly elected
leaders to whom we entrusted our votes in hope of
attaining a better life for our people.
- We vote periodically for a new
leader and renewed hope. Whatever failure the previous
administration had, we hope to accomplish on the newly
elected regime. But what does it take to lead a country?
Does one has to be simply morally upright and wealthy? In
a country like the Philippines where capitalist has
rooted itself within the system, wealth is the
outstanding factor to win a government seat. Rich
industrialists and businessmen spread their wealth
accross the barangays buying votes. Like the way they
invest their capital on their businesses, they buy votes
and reap their harvest once seated within the government,
doubling or quadrupling their profit while running a
corrupt system throughout their term.
- Filipino electorate has seen
these for years. But a man miserable in health and doomed
to die of illness, desperate to preserve his life will
gobble whatever medication to prolong his existence. The
majority of the electorate are living below poverty line
and any offer from these greedy industrialists is but as
important to that of a dying man's need for medication.
Without thorough thinking and extrapolation of ideas they
will trade their free will for subsistence. Without
thorough thinking, they will trade their future for their
immediate need. This has been the prevailing voting
system in the Philippines. Our people trade their future
for immediate need just to subsist for the moment, as the
greedy capitalist-politician maximizes the return of his
capital throughout his term as the electorate starve.
Where did the essence of democracy go? Filipinos look at
communism to be ungodly and authoritarian but what has
democracy rewarded our people from the outset? Poverty
and social injustice. How can a president of the
Philippines live a life of luxury while half of the
people who voted for him are starving and living a life
beyond human dignity? Does this define public service?
How can a leader with chronic gambling habits lose
millions of pesos while his people starve? These are the
stark realities of corrupt political system, with a
rotten core that ultimately sheds off a rotten shell.
- We sold our free will and
neglected the outcome of our future. Is this trade going
to take us further towards economic growth? NO it merely
took us six years back from where we are. By falling unto
this capitalists trap we then again gave up another six
years of hope to gain a better future. This rotten system
is well known to Filipinos. Sadly, they have already
embraced the idea as reality in Philippine politics.
Filipinos have voted actors and actresses who portrayed
themselves to be godly and morally sound on the movies
they have seen, celebrities with no such knowledge of
running a public office nor handling political affairs of
the country. To say that we are incapable of handling our
own political affairs is a desecration of the filipinos
intellect but the exemplary crookedness of our political
system depicts our own in-capacity for self management.
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