Rational Insanity
Ironic trash
The elections are over. Most of the provinces all over the country are busy taking down campaign posters, banners and streamers. All of these campaign used campaign materials will go to the trash after having served their purpose, very much like the Filipino voter.
All political candidates, and I mean ALL, consider the Filipino voter a very important element of their campaign prior to the elections. This is so because that one vote from one Filipino translates into a mandate. This is the reason why the Filipino voter is the star of the electoral process. He/she is spoiled like a toddler during the elections. Money is spent to get that one vote; money is spent on campaign materials that, soon enough, become fodder for compost bacteria. The Filipino voter is fuel for the political machinery of every political candidate but after the elections he/she becomes waste material. His/her dreams and aspirations are set aside in place of the vested interests of those who have risen to power because of the Filipino vote. When the Filipino raises his/her voice to complain about how the government is run and how services are given to the public, nobody in power listens. The Filipino, who was the reason for the rising to power of hundreds of politicians, becomes trash. He does not matter anymore; he becomes no more than the political posters, banners, and streamers that are gathered and dumped into garbage trucks.
The reason why such a phenomenon exists is the fact that most politicians who are catapulted to power by the Filipino electorate suffer from short-term memory loss. When they are already in power, they think they have reached that point working on their own. They forget that they are in power for a reason and that reason is the Filipino public. We cannot blame them, though, because they spent for the elections, and they feel that it is their own spending that has brought them to power.
The mandate of every elected official should be a direct consequence of the power of the Filipino voter, not of the capacity of that particular elective official to spend for his or her campaign. The trend nowadays is that if a candidate does not have money, he will more likely loose in the elections. Hence, it follows that only millionaires are truly able to win in a Philippine election. What kind of hypocrisy is it then that these millionaires should claim that they know the plight of the poor, that they are one with the poor, that they are sincere in helping the poor? Why would they spend millions on an electoral process if they truly want to serve the poor? For Christ’s sake, the millions that they spend for an election would be money well-spent if instead of spending it on an election; they would spend it on projects for the welfare of those who are underprivileged. What does getting into power have to do with sincere service to the people? Any candidate can serve even when he/she does not run for office if he/she is truly sincere, what with the millions that candidates have to spend on the campaign process?
When will politicians learn that their mandate, their power comes from the people? When will the people learn that they are the ones who put politicians into office and that these politicians are not masters but servants? It takes two to tango -- the electoral process cuts both ways and so each of us should begin to question the choices we have made in the last elections.
Was our choice a result of our submission to the monster that is politics, or was our choice a contribution to the growing number of choices made in favor of slaying this monster?
For as long as we cannot answer this question, we will always be slaves to the electoral process -- affected by lies and promises, easily swayed by guns, goons, and gold.
It is heartening to know that the Filipino voter has already began to come to terms with the power of his vote this past elections. Unfortunately, kulang pa. There are still politicians who have earned their mandate this May because they thrive on the dirt that politics is made of. For as long as these politicians get re-run of their filth, we Filipinos will always become trash in the end, like the campaign posters, streamers, and banners that eventually end up in garbage dumps.
Be rational; be insane...every once in a while!!TTFN!
I love you all dear readers!! Byers!