5 Big Reasons Why We Should Take The 2016 Elections More Seriously

After viewing the full video of Alma Moreno’s latest interview and hearing of her intent to run for senate, I cannot help but lament the possible future of the Filipino people. What’s worse is that despite the fact that she has easily destroyed her own credibility in the interview proper, it’s still likely that a good number of people will vote for her especially the die-hard loyalist of the Binay Camp, more commonly referred to as UNA. Going back to one of my more infamous articles, I want to say that while the government and media have both ruined the country considerably, it is all too often we, the common people, who allow them to do so. I mean think about it, would the same crooks be in power if we didn’t vote for them? Would the local media still be dishing out crap if the common people demand better quality programs from them?

alma_moreno_interview

Anyway, this is more or less a revisit to one of my previous articles about “trapos” or typical Pinoy politicians and why we should avoid voting for or supporting them. In that one, I pointed out the common things traits that will allow one to better identify a trapo and thus avoid them. In this one, I am going to point out to those less-informed of our readers why we should, for the life of us, prevent these people from ever gaining political power.

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They Rely Only On Their Popularity

The likes of Manny Pacquiao, Alma Moreno and Bong Revilla Jr. are probably some of the shining examples of this. Thanks to being celebrities, these people often find it easy to gain public support. Unfortunately, it’s quite clear from the get-go that it’s the only thing that they have going for them as politicians.

To be a leader of the country, one needs more than just popularity. They must be more than just about being able to deliver devastating punches in a boxing ring, more than just about taking their clothes off in front of a camera and more than just being able to deliver cheesy lines read from a script. A person’s popularity won’t mean squat when they can barely attend assemblies, cannot properly answer difficult questions or can’t seem to decide on whether they want to be a politician or remain as a movie star.

They See Their Position As An “End” Rather Than A “Means”

“I did not really plan to run for senator. Just prayers.”

~Alma Moreno

“If God wills it, I will become president someday.”

~Manny Pacquiao

As Benign0 and a few other writers here have said again and again, becoming a politician is supposed to be a means to an end rather than a means in and of itself. As mentioned in the first article about Alma Moreno, more and more celebrities are seeing politics as the go-to place once they’ve washed-up as a has-been. So both the congress and the senate has become more or less like the retirement plan of many celebrities who are considering the end of their showbiz career or if their careers have already come to an end.

However, being a person who holds religious beliefs, I find it most offensive that trapos even include the name of God in their justification of wanting to run for office. It’s as if they’re implying that gaining a political position is in and of itself a reward from God instead of being a sacred responsibility to the people. Indeed, what’s worse is that many of the common people will see it as just that and vote for them anyway even when said position could probably be handed to better people who will treat the status as a “duty” and not as a “trophy”.

They Do Not Clearly Understand Their Priorities

“Do I need to answer that?”

~Alma Moreno, when asked by Karen Davila about her stance regarding the RH Bill.

The thing is, most of these washouts just want a good retirement plan. They may say they run for the position in order to help people but it’s quite clear that a lot of them are just in it for themselves. Indeed, a lot of them might start out that way, but they just become like any other trapo once they take on a political position long enough as what has happened to Manny Pacquiao. What’s more is that, if they really wanted to help people, they seem to have forgotten that one can still help the people without being a politician and that being a politician might prevent one from providing the help that is really needed.

They Don’t Bother To Understand Things Until It’s Too Late

During Alma Moreno’s interview, she mentioned being pro-RH Bill even though later on, after much questioning, her answers put her squarely in the anti-RH Bill camp. Manny Pacquiao was originally pro-BBL until he found out that the province he ruled would be added among the territories mentioned and suddenly withdrew his support. I mean really, do these people even know what their job is as politicians?

With this kind of leadership, one can only wonder what they can consign their own people to. They may even end up doing irrevocable damage to the country by signing a treaty they didn’t thoroughly read or understand before signing.

They Probably Won’t Be The People In Charge To Start With

As you can see, these “political candidates” aren’t competent at politics even in the broadest definition of the term. More likely than not it will be their advisers or close allies who will be calling the shots for them instead of they themselves. At the end of the day, they are nothing more than well-fed puppets to other politicians instead of being fully independent entities in their own right.

***

Now, with everything I mentioned so far, can you imagine what would happen if (God forbid) say an attack similar to what happened in Paris and Beirut took place in Manila? Do you think typical trapos can even acknowledge such an incident as their responsibility let alone finding a means of dealing with it?

Look, if you still want to vote for people like Alma Moreno or Manny Pacquiao, it’s entirely up to you. However, when something bad happens (like a natural disaster or a terrorist attack) and they fail to mount any kind of effective countermeasure or relief plan, you have no one to blame but yourself. Remember, while it may be a politician’s job to care for his or her people, it is our responsibility not to vote for incompetent buffoons.

19 Replies to “5 Big Reasons Why We Should Take The 2016 Elections More Seriously”

  1. The title of this blog should be “Bobotantes For Dummies” Haay, God save the Philippines and we need Duterte in order to prevent this so called “circus” politics. 🙁

  2. It is quite a revelation to me and also hope for the rest of us of the truth of this statement made by someone on the know about what true knowledge is all about. ” Two third of the world’s evils is due to ignorance, and one third is due to superstition. ” So let us shake off our ignorance and superstition about politics as well as politicians’ motives for running for an office. If we fail to shed off our ignorance and superstitions and their direct effects they have on the way we conduct our life, we are to blame and no one else no matter what rationalizations you make.

    1. it wasn’t written under the 1987 Constitution. It’s time to change the system, vote Duterte for president & he’s in favor of a federal parliamentary type of system in our country. Take that, Alma & Pacman. 😀

  3. ‘Congressman’ and ‘Senator’ are two positions a lot of people want to shoot for.. for three reasons.

    a) These positions are flush with cash. The salary is a pittance.. even an insult to most aspirants who had to have some money of their own in order to run in the first place. The discretionary funds, variously called ‘Pork Barrel’ ‘PDAF’, or contingency funds is the real ‘plum’. It now stands at 200 million pesos for a Senator and 70 million for a Congressman, (I would complain if I were a Congressman). A ‘good’ politician can devise many creative ways to scoop-up all of their allocations, and then some.

    b) The protection that each of these positions provide to those who hold them is another. This might apply more to second and third ‘termers’, as well as to those who have their close relatives run and occupy their positions when term limits fall due. The ‘lucre’, (loot) that they would have amassed over the years, must be protected. What better protection than the position itself. Is it a wonder why even Presidents would consider running for a Congressional post?

    c) The unofficial privilege and opportunities are endless. Lobbying, sponsorships, advocacies and ‘kick-backs’ are principal default-activities in this direction. These activities usually prove more lucrative than the ‘Pork’. And in ‘Congress’ and the ‘Senate’, ‘exclusive membership clubs’ that they are, a wink and a nod always work. Everybody’s happy.

    Movie and TV has-beens, who still have residual pull over the masses, and their ‘puppet-masters, (Binay in the case of Alma Moreno), know that they have the advantage. The masses being what they are, are easily ‘suckered-in’, bribed and/or intimidated. The irony is that this electorate, are actually suckered-in twice.. once before the elections, and once more thereafter.

    Disgusting, sad.. and hopeless, I’m afraid. But that’s where we are.

  4. Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

    1. Yup – Kung kulang sa ALAM, MORONic interview ang kalalabasan. Sigh… “When will they eeever learn, when will they eeeever learn…?”

  5. If there are no Dumb Voters; there would be no Dumb Candidates. These Show Biz (laos na) Candidates; are dumb; dull; uneducated; and low IQ/EQ. Anyway, the dumb voters(“bobotantes”) , even elected a Mentally Retarded and Depressed President.

    Alma Moreno can open her legs; flash to voters her private parts…and wham: she will be elected as Senator.

    What a Dumb people, we have…most of us, are too stupid. But, we don’t realize we are stupid…

  6. Quite an entertaining interview to say the least. It’s funny how the astute interviewer Karen Davila seems to be the one projecting to be the “senator candidate'” material instead – by the glaring contrast at how she articulated herself and showed her depth of understanding of the issues at hand.

    Alma couldn’t even speak in straight English – which I find bothersome. I’ve been taught that as proper conduct – if someone asks you in English you should answer in English.

  7. zaxx,

    “Joke na lang ba talaga ang Philippine politics?”

    Philippine Politics has always been a joke that everyone used to laugh about. Now, only a few people are laughing.

    Aeta

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