Wake Up and Smell the Coffee for the Coming Philippine Elections

By: Joe Mauricio

 

With the debates over and the issues out of the way, voters and politicians will just have to put politics in its proper perspective and historical place.

Political parties and politicians have been with us from the beginning of politics. Philippines’ young democracy had been transplanted from the Americans’ political lifestyle with the country since.

The push and pull of differing points of values have led us to some simple queries in the U.S. Constitution and the construction of its multipartite governnment.

In order to maintain the throwback political model for some time, serious efforts to keep individual and corporate money out of the elections or shortening the election period as a start must be supported.

While Filipinos may distrust the present administration, they try to like their own representation, and hence, the same individuals, families, and political party members continue to get elected while theycomplain about the elected officials’ lack of performance.

Despite of some efforts that were made to reform the welfare system, the area of social policy is still a mess and the distribution of aids in a disaster area is too political.

The Philippines’ education system is getting worse, even though the graduation rates and test scores are better than they have been, because it is not properly funded as expectations rise and other countries are working harder.

For the uneducated Filipinos, the train has left the station and they need to wake up and smell the coffee.When Japan has driverless trucks and robots that do loading and warehouse work are better than people, those without skills or education face a bleak future. Training and retraining need to be effective and must be readily available to all, and linked to actual growing jobs needs for the future of the country.

The next president of the country is faced with so much to do. Hopefully, this diatribe and suggestions will open honest dialogues about the array of issues on which the Philippines has become stalled.

However, it is pretty clear that either nothing is happening in Malacanang or people are jumping from crisis to crisis without a road map to the future that they may want for their beloved Philippines.

If the next president is not up to this task, let’s go of them and elect people who will –preferably at the ballot boxes in the election polls for the coming election.

For both opposition and administration candidates, it’s time to simplify things and agree on the legitimate functions of the government in the twenty-first century.

It is time to address the big issues facing the country for the benefit of the Philippines and the Filipinos–not your party, your reelection, or your future cushy job, as a lobbyist.

One must realize that this level of involvement is difficult to achieve and maintain, especially when large numbers of Filipinos distrust the government. However, this is the time when strong and ongoing participation is needed the most.

Like a successful marriage, this takes a lot of work on continuing basis. The government knows that you are on the case, much more likely to get government that works for the people instead of for its own interest, stay informed, and sound off to our elected officers.

It will take a huge intervention to get the government the drugs of power, money and reelection and working for its electorate like it should. Then people can use our complaint time and energy to pursue a more perfect governance and own goal in the land of free and fair, the Republic of the Philippines.

And, for those politicians who will be elected to save the country, smell the coffee (must be the native “barako” because it has strong taste and aroma). Know how to have the mechanism to move the economic life to a truly higher ground.##