Argosy S. Nazareno
Scrap TRAditional POlitics
Politics in the country has traditionally been dominated by families, clans and political bosses. These families govern local governments for so long yet voters continue to support even if they are not so satisfied of what they see. This is because voters expect money or jobs in return for their political support thereby having “utang na loob”.
Filipinos are also known to have close family ties. It influences almost all of our beliefs and actions. In Politics, if you are a family member or relative of someone in a government position, especially those who has the same surname as you, then it’s more likely that you will have a huge chance of attaining a position, too. People flock to include politicians in their list of ninongs and ninangs in order to easily ask favor in the future as kumpare and kumare.
However, being close to people in power is difficult because you will encounter a lot of dilemmas. You go with the flow even if you don’t like a certain program or policy out of fear that you will be out from the group. Saying anything against anyone is a prohibited act in order to have a continuous smooth relationship. You learn to zip your mouth when a concerned citizen is inquisitive. Because if you do voice out negative criticisms, you would appear as the traitor.
This current political picture stemmed from the disappearance of real and serious political parties. What constitutes the parties today are temporary coalitions and alliances. Some do not take their membership in political parties and coalitions seriously. They shift allegiances during the campaign and immediately after the elections when the conditions are right and in their favor. As a result, candidates does not possess honor and loyalty.
When it comes to tough issues, Officials turn to understatements just to be on the safe side. It would eventually result in neglect due to the lack of sincerity. The problems linger and persist, thus, no concrete solutions are given.
If the politician helps you even in small dole outs, he or she expects that you will vote for him. Even if only 2 out of 5 times that he had helped you, he still expects your loyalty. And if you happen to be in the side of his enemy, then prepare for some recounting of past favors.
A common practice of politicians that should be shunned whenever we see it is the so called “personalized politics”. Common examples are those written in government projects which starts with “A Project of (insert name of politician)”. They put their names on it even if the funds came from people’s taxes. The problem with some people is that they believe that these projects came from the politician’s own pocket. Of course these tricks are done so that the people may know that they are doing something.
Even if Priests, Nuns, Bishops and other religious leaders are powerful figures in our country, most of them, if not all, have close ties with powerful politicians especially those who give large sums for church projects, making the poor nearly invincible. If our religious figures practice what they preach, then we should have lesser problems do deal with.
Let us be mindful of these facts of traditional Philippine Politics. Let us slowly eradicate this culture and do something even in our own little way for the benefit of our fellow Filipinos. Change does not come overnight but constant progress can fuel the drive for the real change that we desired for so long.
In the coming elections, we hope that the people who wants genuine change in the society will vote wisely. We hope that they will choose someone who knows how to legislate and fiscalize for the betterment of the country.