Voting for the First-Time? Things to Think About

Our Presidential elections next year gives me the shivers, like anticipating the onslaught of another typhoon never knowing how much disaster it will bring. Why we have come to this point of uncertainty should really send us thinking about what we did with our votes the past election years. I had high regard for Marcos but was disappointed he had to exit ungraciously. I believe “Tita Cory” did her best and made good in spite of her limitations. She had integrity. FVR and GMA were sophisticated in their own ways. But poverty is still amongst us and it feels like no President could ever be spared from bearing the blame for it. The future looks gloomy if we don’t act on making it good. The best thing about still being here, alive and kicking, is that we can always TRY. Uncertainty is always disturbing but one good way of coping with it is to talk about it. Come to think of it, the subject is interesting. So let’s talk about it!

I don’t remember any period in our national history when young people and the first time voters have been given real significance more than now. To be able to swing the vote to the best choice of candidates is an effort that indicates the making of a united electorate. Mass media is now coupled with high technology, reaching and touching the hardest population sector to please – the youth. Example, ABS-CBN’s “Boto Mo-Patrol Mo” does not only encourage eligible voters to register, it reinforces vigilance so one’s vote would be counted, and stands for one’s vote to make THE DIFFERENCE.

But what do the first time, youthful voters look for in a leader? Here are some elements you may want to think about and some of my thoughts as starters:

A Gentleman or another Lady President?

With Cory and GMA the idea of the woman good only with house chores swung to both sides of the extreme: “the woman is equal to a man” and “the woman can be a man, too.”

In both instances, they reflect how we as a people has transcended traditional perceptions about being a woman; how the Filipina has “actualized” herself as a working individual, as a single parent, as what I call the rice winner, as an overseas adventurer and risk-taker, as a partner to another female, etcetera, etcetera.

Does gender matter when it comes to being the president of a nation?

Is a candidate’s religious affiliation important?

Catholics, Protestants, Muslims. We are a mix of religious beliefs and those beliefs do intersect at some points so we all value life, family, peace within and outside. Our individual beliefs somehow mirror those of our society and if one would be faithful, then this country would be a better place for all. Didn’t the prayers make People Power 1986?

What about educational attainment?

The Erap jokes exaggerated the criticism on former President Estrada’s academic achievement, and it made his limelight brighter. He turned out smart and outwitted even himself. But how and where should a President’s intellectual capacity be demonstrated?

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