Your Choices of Leaders in 2010

Choosing your President in 2010 could be the influence of your own individual processing, of your immediate family, your peers, the community where you belong, of what most Filipinos think as the better choice or by a combination of all of the above. Yet we often find ourselves unprepared to choose as the election draws near. We still await the media circus and the campaign extravaganza. No matter what your strategy and pace are, let us share some thoughts to guide you in making the final choice.

The past three decades saw an unprecedented election of two women to serve at the peak of our executive hierarchy: Corazon Cojuangco Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Cory Aquino was undoubtedly the symbol of renewed democracy, and as such, has already done her part. Surprisingly, she has surpassed expectations and rates as having been professional and efficient in her Presidential role. Gloria Arroyo with a former President-father and a post-graduate education in economics was to bring the country into yet another economic miracle. Now facing great criticism left and right, she remains certain to complete her term in 2010 and insinuates running for another political post by then. Loren Legarda now stands out as the only woman candidate for the next highest-ranking position, the Vice-Presidency. Having been in the media as well as in government service as two-time Senator, many think that she would have been ready for the Presidency. Her most significant contribution remains to be her authored legislation benefiting women and children, such as the Anti-Domestic Violence Act and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, and her environmental protection and preservation advocacy through the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law and the Climate Change Act of October 2009. With the Luntiang Pilipinas program, two million trees were planted all over the archipelago. The 10@10: The Ten Million Trees Campaign foresees planting of 10 million trees by the year 2011 as our contribution to the UNEP, which aims to reach the seven billion-tree mark by 2009. Undoubtedly, her contributions are necessary and relevant to the challenges of our time.

For the Presidency, the males dominate. The spectrum of their experiences range from being film actors, religious leaders, traditional politicians, to the popular “tao ng masa.” The nuisance candidates make their scene, too. We as a people often rate those in office during and after their term and less frequently before they were catapulted as hierarchical winners. Could this be one reason why we end up regretting? How do we truly know any candidate? Since the mind is boggled by the impossibility of personally seeing and living with all “__-ables” in order to gauge their suitability to public office, we mostly depend on what they will say in their media campaign. Notice that the media is now multi-dimensional and is capable of making everyone look like “Bro,” or any self-made super hero.

Those with better information and experience dealing with the subject personalities are in a great way responsible to their community of voters, too. The NGOs (non-government organizations) are reachable through the technological miracle of the internet. Their blogs and websites may post information you have wanted to know. Better still, talk to your local officials, initiate community discussions, and participate in local events, which could help surface your ever-significant decision.

In the end, it all boils down to how honest and sincere the candidates are in promoting their public image. The greatest fall comes from spiralling public expectations bloated by falsehoods and inability to deliver, and the deathly outcome is borne by our poverty-weakened social and economic backbone.