Unfortunately, our electoral process seems to be flawed from the time legal candidates are accepted as such and up to the time of the election period -- the counting and the pronouncement. We have not really mastered the art of HAVING a clean democratic participation.
Look at our government -- are there checks and balances? Congress can easily be swayed to do whatever the Executive Department asks them to do. The Executive Department exercises so much power that the other officials in Congress and the Senate appear to be appealing (begging, may I say) all the time, pleading for his/her support, thus ending to be not a co-equal branch at all.
Hence, when we hold elections, the same colors appear again and again.
Actually, when we speak of electoral process, the main topic should be that of upholding popular sovereignty, meaning to say the government is strengthening its capacity to implement the people's will; that the people have access to relevant, important and even simple information so that we can make informed decisions (that is the purpose of the Freedom of Information bill); that we participate fully in every decision-making process of the government; that elections are peaceful, free and fair and that even the minority have a voice in society, not just the majority.
Since our country is the first in the world to conduct a bloodless People Power then our government should also be exemplary in making sure that the people's will, the people's power is reflected, is embedded in every section of the government, in all the branches, and imbibed by every employee and official, year after year after year.
Every governing act should be a new, a discovery or a rediscovery of democratic processes which we lost, have lost or were hidden from us or which we had failed to nurture and develop during the one-man rule in the 70's and 80's. Then, as we are a spiritual people, predominantly, Christian nation that is theist, then such values, which of course are also attitudes in democratic societies, of having self-initiative and that voluntaristic attitude in helping the downtrodden should be axiomatic in every area of governing bodies; and those in positions of power need not wait for the bureaucratic rules to be relaxed by higher bosses before acting for the poor and the needy.
Look at what has happened now to the more than 170 applicants to become president. Only 4 has been accepted and a fifth slot is being reserved for someone.
Is that democratic? Is that Christian at all? Is that being spiritual or humane?
Choice of the four
Who chose the four candidates? What are their qualifications which cannot be found in the other applicants? Can they articulate the program that they will pursue once they win? I am sure that those other applicants to be candidates have among themselves certain qualities that the people could want to have as president had they been given the chance to exercise their talents and abilities.
Examine their similar qualities:
1. graduates of higher education in schools for the affluent;
2. belong to the upper class in society;
3. current officials and so their media mileage is long as every act of theirs has been exposed since the time that they have sat into power.
Rerunning officials
Actually, I believe that re-running officials should be assessed -- in terms of their performance before being allowed to campaign and run again. Here are the questions that we should pose to them:
1. Did they fulfill their duties well while in office?
2. Was there something exemplary in their public service so that the people they are supposed to have served have lightened up their economic burdens?
3. Did they fulfill their tasks as dutiful servants -- like attending the sessions of Congress more than 50% of the time? Attendance is one way of showing to the people that they are conscious of their wants, that they are always relevant in terms of developing opinions that will advance the people's capacity to progress, not just economically, but also socially, politically, and spiritually.
Standards for judging acceptance
Thus we must say that the standards for judging the acceptance or rejection of a candidate who has been an official in the government should be their own performance and that this should be judged according to being good, better and excellent. Otherwise, they should be disallowed from running, made to meditate on what they had done all throughout, to make amends, and grievously apologize to the people for having wasted their votes, salaries, project funds released to them.
So, numbers should not be a problem at all in terms of selecting who will be approved as candidates for official positions, if the people's opinion is gathered.
Democratic process for selecting candidates
If there are two hundred vying for a position, then divide that by ten so that there will be 20 panels that can be formed. With media coverage, in a public setting, each applicant will be asked to pick a topic from a box and then asked to deliver a talk for 3 minutes. Afterwards, sitting as a panel of ten, one problem topic for discussion will be asked of them so that the people may see the differences in opinion, who knows how to discuss, analyze, synthesise and provide solutions to problems.
The people in the audience will be asked to send their approval of which candidate/s they prefer to run through texting. The results will be coded and analyzed by a group of social scientists together with statistical analysts and the winner/s shall be declared then eligible for running. Everyone will be challenged to prepare and come out at par with the other candidates in terms of the standards.
This approach should be replicated in all other positions up for election.
Let us admit it, governance is not only doing but also speaking out, of having that ability to use the mind properly and acting out what needs to be done. However and whatever the candidate reveals in that panel would be a mirror of futuristic reactions and would show his/her capability in being on top in every tricky, stressful or even lugubrious instances of governing the country. For example, does the candidate apologize for a mistake or does he/she get back at the questioner? Some people are like that -- they refuse to accept their mistakes and instead try to avenge their revealed errors in judgment and otherwise.
Lastly, let us treat candidates humanely, not calling those who are not accepted as "nuisance," but rather using a generic name that is non-judgmental at all as everything is in limbo unless and until those persons have been allowed to exercise their talents and abilities to be candidates. By the way, that word "nuisance" is a product of our history. Search where it came from -- our colonial background being used again and again in the new millenium.
For emphasis, it is the duty of the Commission, isn't it to inform all the 42,028 barangays as to who are the candidates in all the positions that are up for claiming, their pictures, their biodata, their accomplishments as previous officials or employees in the government, their reputation and record as professionals and as members of their community. We cannot really rely on personal comments because some candidates do not enjoy the support of their apolitical families who would rather be mum about what is going on in society than be involved in political debates and the like.
So multiply the number of barangays and the types of media to be used for announcing the candidates. That should be the budget given the Commission.
Folks, let us mull over our electoral processes in order not to make it descend into an activity of clowning, in entertaining with irrelevant jokes or lewd dancing, and in general, being a mentally-challenged exercise. Let us not forget, or rather let us emphasize that during an electoral exercise, our number one criterion is that the candidates love our country very much, have a world-view that encompasses the whole of humanity, and will bring our country to that level of peace, humaneness, and economic prosperity for everyone, and not just a few.
By the way, our people have grown in leaps and bounds because of social media and the government has to reach that level of understanding, of curiosity, of social consciousness, of the people now. Or else it would become superfluous and useless later on.
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