RIGHT TO SUFFRAGE BESIEGED
Jan 12 (5 days ago) 2013
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Life can be very cheap. You may lose it in the street or in your home.
Does it really matter if you are dead already? Your family, that is
most of the families, would feel sorrowful should you die. But to
some, death could be a way of reducing economic problems – less mouth
to feed, clothe and shelter. But if the dead is the breadwinner then
that makes a lot of difference.
The spate of killings in the country is very alarming – starting with
those caused by natural disasters (or misguided environmental and
development plans); and those that are politically motivated. Then
there are those also caused by mentally deranged individuals who are
given the chance to get hold of high-powered arms.
Death could be viewed as an entrance to another level of life, to some
people. But then that is only passable if the individuals have lived
fully on earth, meaning they have fully expressed their talents, they
have lived a successful life not only for themselves but also for
others. In other words, we qualify life that has meaning not only to
oneself but also to others.
Yet nowadays, we cannot even require that death be qualified. Some
people just die without their willing it. Others are collateral damage
in an encounter. As the election period is nearing, we are witnessing
this increase in killings in places that are far from the seat of
political power.
How come, it is so difficult to build up and strengthen democracy
without too much cost to lives? Why can’t people just go to the polls
and say, “Oh, I will vote at ten a.m. and my vote will be counted
after 3 p.m. Great. Elections will be over soon.”
The democratic exercise should be taken as one of the activities in
our lifetime. It should not be the be-all and end-all of a person’s
attention. Sure, we must be politically motivated to help our country
move forward but then, there are many ways to do that as well –
through business, through engagement in the arts, through education,
and many others.
Redefining political power
By making that political exercise as the steppingstone to social
power, to perhaps economic power, then all the other fields are being
reduced to secondary, or even tertiary roles. An artist has a lower
social rank than a senator in our present day. Not even a national
artist will be considered higher in stature. A musician would be a
lesser being than the president. And should the president be a
musician, then that would not be a most qualifying talent at all even
if the individual could compose and sing songs that talk of how this
country can be made equal to all the superpowers of the world. I
cannot imagine a Havel, the dramatist becoming president in an Eastern
European country, happening here at all.
By the way, this is why I am awed by a famous local mayor, who is
still engaging in filmmaking, despite his being busy as a political
official. You see filmmaking is a difficult field – very demanding.
The filmmaker has to open all his and her senses – hearing for sounds,
sight for visuals, emotions to make the characters have humanity,
etcetera. But come to think of it, did he sacrifice his film art
before he became an official --not engaging in it till he had reached
that highest post in local government?
Not political office alone
Let me repeat what I said in the past. Our society has to
create rewards and awards for all the fields,
make them really credible as worthwhile activities not for the
monetary component alone if there is any, but for that reason that one
is cut out for this and that field. (Oh please, delete boxing as a
talent. So gross.) And excelling in those fields is equal in
importance to holding a political office.
In other words, we can acquire power and fame, through our talents not
by necessarily becoming a politician, but more by engaging in what we
think is the best that we can do. Of course, it is important to love
our country, to participate in whatever manner. In fact, we can voice
out or express our political views through the arts, literature and
music which then should be considered as noble as sitting in office.
Of violence-inclined officials
When individuals, in office or not yet in office, start using violence
in order to stay or acquire power, that I think is already a sign that
they are not cut out to be leaders of our country. In fact, their use
of violence is bracketing the people’s minds into thinking that to be
politically powerful is to be armed.
Violent persons – covert and overt – should have no space in our
society. We must be very strict about that. We cannot allow ourselves
to be hoodwinked into thinking that the strong person is the armed,
and not a sewer, a handicraft maker, a domestic helper, or one holding
a paintbrush, a pen, or even a laptop. Every individual has his or her
strength in one or in many aspects. Strength does not mean being able
to hold a political office alone.
Refocused aspirations
Refocusing the minds of our people into the many other endeavors in
life could actually prolong their lives. Why because there is less
competition or the competition is manageable in those areas, whereas
in our political reality, competition is not only cut-throat but also
deadly. I guess the many non-government organizations engaged in
social movements, have to help in this endeavor. They must raise the
aspirations of the people, not just to become political in attitude
but also artistic, business-minded, etc.
Well, as elections are the best way for us to have good and committed
leaders, I would grant that we should accord this exercise great
attention also. At this time, we should already start campaigning:
“Walang bentahan ng boto.” We should mark those candidates who are
inclined to vote-buying as not worthy of being in office.
Vote-buying and vote-selling are actually the highest crimes, next to
killing in the election period. DELIBERATELY MIISCOUNTING AND TAMPERING WITH THE RESULTS SHOULD ALSO BE TREATED AS CRIMINAL ACTIVITES BECAUSE THE PERPETRATORS ARE STEALING THE VOTES OF THE PEOPLE.
When people vote for a druglord or druglady because
they had received “lagay” then we are building a gangster
land, no longer a democratic country. Vote-buying and vote-selling
make a mockery of our electoral powers. It is putting a price on our
vote which is not the fundamental reason why we have that right of
suffrage.
We must emphasize to the people that the right of suffrage is sacred, ours to
use to select and elect leaders, men and women, who will devote their
body, mind and emotions into public service, who will be morally
upright all throughout their term who will lead, LEAD us into a more humane
and prosperous life.
Thus, we must have morally conscious voters. They must be able to
distinguish a true from a fake candidate for a political post.
Conscience voting is the most sacred thing we can do in our lifetime –
putting up individuals as officials who will serve selflessly all
throughout without expecting any monetary return.
This should make sure that our right to vote will no longer be under siege .
Now how do we choose which candidate is worthy of our votes? Then, we
must have standards for voting a local and a national official. The
standards should be concrete, not abstract, say : this candidate has a
history of this and that activity. Is this good or bad? Is he or she
moral, meaning knowing and practicing good acts that redound to the
healthy development of the country?
Am I being an idealist? Not really. I am for preparing and the hearts
and minds of the people – voting is one aspect of our political life.
And we must do it conscientiously. At the same time, we need to
inculcate in the people the idea that being in a political office is
just one avenue for a person to serve the people, the country and of
course, the earth
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