The more I live through different editions of it, elections in this country have become more and more depressing.
Instead of giving me hope for positive change, it seems that the election season has been showing us just how entrenched political dynasties and traditional politicians have become, and how the core issue of the lack of voter education and vote buying isn’t even being addressed by a system that seems to prefer ignorant voters with short attention spans who can be bought cheaply, over critical thinkers who could spell doom for the current brand of politicians and leaders who have been ruling over our nation.
With every election cycle, the quality of the candidates seems to be worsening instead of improving. Trying to do your research before voting has become a most frustrating exercise when we are faced with a list of mediocre or undeserving potential leaders and aspiring public servants. Instead of choosing from a list of the best available leaders, it feels like we are picking from the leftovers and clowns instead.
Most candidates are washed out entertainers, underperformers, political sycophants, and members of dynasties from all age ranges. Rare are the candidates who are actually competent and capable, those who have integrity and who can make things happen, and actually have a vision for their community and nation, and aren’t in it just for the perks and the opportunity to commit graft and corruption. Those potential leaders are understandably not willing to sacrifice their lives and principles when they know that you have to literally sell your soul to the devil just to get a chance to serve your country.
If you come to think of it, the main reasons for the current state of affairs of our so-called democracy would be the normalization of vote buying, coupled with the ignorance and lack of education among voters, which is exacerbated by an educational system that produces graduates that can read but struggle to comprehend a simple story. Those kinds of graduates are the sort of voters whose votes are much easier to buy, compared to those who are endowed with the capability to think critically and can address issues instead of personalities.
The cancer of vote buying is something that we do not like to think about seriously, but every time Election Day nears, it’s a reality that always hits like a most insulting slap in the face of the collective noun that is the Filipino voter. According to rumors, the going rate for votes these days in our island ranges from P300 to as high as P3,000, and it seems that everyone but the authorities knows that. Either that or they also know but opt to do nothing, maybe because they are apathetic or they’ve already been bought (or sold) as well.
If you come to think of it, vote buying is the root of all evil in this country. The accepted, normalized, and common electoral practice stops those who don’t have the war chest and funds from even considering running for public office and at the same time, those who do succumb to it are sure to become corrupt because of the need for a return on investment. Whether they can afford to shell out the millions for themselves, or find sponsors willing to gamble on them, all the money that was spent on buying votes will surely need to be recouped.
On the other hand, those that have been in the business of corruption long enough to already recover their initial vote buying expenses simply have to dip into their accumulated war chest when the time comes to perpetuate their dynasties. All they need is a dumb Filipino voter who thinks that by accepting the cash, they are also partaking in the spoils of corruption, through the benevolence of the vote buyer, of course.
A government, or its Commission on Elections, National Bureau of Investigation, and police force that really wants to end vote buying should be able to do so if it were really determined to end the practice and prosecute the violators, masterminds included. But just like the case of premature campaigning, it seems like they aren’t really interested in doing so, the same way the DepEd is not keen on a school system that can produce 18-year-olds who possess decent reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Yesterday’s polls and the campaign period that preceded it, which was all business as usual for the country’s traditional politicians and their dynasties, are proof of that lack of resolve.
How many more elections do we have to endure before voting feels like a refreshing opportunity to improve our nation rather than just another attempt to minimize the damage and deal with the cancer that is eating away at our future?*
