Cartoon By: Aaron Paul C. Caril
EDITORIAL
The electoral process: Our continuous search for hope
Let’s get ready to rumble!
It’s barely seven (7) months before the May 2025 national
and local elections. As expected, much will be said during
electoral campaigns and most of the statements in public
gatherings and social media will be acerbic and may have no
bearing at all with the platform of government espoused by the
candidates.
It will be dumbfounding to hear candidates and their allies
who, instead of debating on platforms, will focus on the person
and his vices and defects rather than on the merits of his
proposition. The May 2025 national and local elections will
leave us with scars and dents on our egos. Be that as it may,
past elections have taught us important lessons worth
pondering, and many of these lessons, simply fell into the
abyss of oblivion.
One lesson is that there is always an end to every
political dynasty. We saw the fall of some political dynasties.
These families were once believed to be invincible as if they
own a title to key elective positions in government. Family
members simply take turns once an incumbent reaches the
three-term limit of his office. In our very own province, we saw
how an entire family was rejected by the electorate when not
one of the family members who ran for local posts won. In all
these instances, the electorate’s message is clear that no
person can ever have a vested right to public office and that no
amount of money can persuade the people to give the ruling
family a perpetual mandate. But since our political system in
the country is not built on solid foundation, dynasties are
reborn every now and then.
Another important lesson to learn is that vote-buying
does not always guarantee success in the elections. Reports
of massive vote-buying have circulated in the internet in almost
all past elections. The act definitely is not only illegal but also
immoral. Some holier-than-thou crusaders even went below
the belt by calling those who voted for the winning candidate
accused of vote-buying as “bobo”. However, there are stories
that would show that money is not the be all and end all to get
elected. In one locality before, the last-ditch effort of a
candidate to persuade the voters with the lure of money has
fuelled the ‘revolt of the masses’ whose votes were thought to
be just worth a penny.
Finally, voters, no matter how lowly their status in life is,
can never be underestimated in choosing their leaders.
Beyond a pittance brandished before their very own eyes, they
too look beyond material things through the lenses of their own
ideals and aspirations. If one wonders why his honesty does
not seem to attract the voters to rally behind his cause, he
needs to realize that may be his value proposition is egocentric
and the people simply feel alienated by the panacea he offers.
The election is the people’s continuous search for hope.
He who inspires hope in people deserves to lead them to
greatness. He who sows anger and resentment deserves a life
in solitude.