Selection fever
Who are you voting for? I posted this question to an 84-year-old neighbor one early morning as we were walking back to our homes after the block rosary, and he quickly named his top senatorial bets. Three of those he mentioned would be anyone’s top choices based on their qualifications: having an educational background, experience, being untainted by corruption or having publicly fought against it, and having never been convicted or touched by scandal as an individual or as a family. The next statement was lightly delivered and could only come from one who has seen and experienced it all and spoke of the difficulty in making choices. “’Yung iba, nakakatawa.” If a candidate was not a stand-up comedian, wouldn’t this be an affront?
I took another look at the qualifications needed to run for public office for the sake of accuracy. A person who can read or write, is a natural-born citizen, reaches the age requirement for the position sought, and has the required years of residency is eligible. This means that anyone can run for office. While this must have been intended to be inclusive, this bare minimum has encouraged such a varied mix of candidates, leading me to reluctantly accept my neighbor’s description to avoid dwelling on more inflammatory adjectives that could only drain energy best directed toward doing something more productive.
With the elections just a few days away, nothing can be done except to carefully rethink and review our list and help those wanting to fill their lineup by providing them with factual information on a candidate’s competency, integrity, honesty, and proven track record—in the best way we can—especially for those who are tempted to vote based on popularity or name recall or who have given up after seeing how the political landscape has remained stagnant. Left with the duty to explain as a responsible citizen, competency and track record can easily be found in documents and are traceable, but how do we make them comprehend the words that are immeasurable?
The Cambridge Dictionary defines integrity as “a quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change.” Decency is behavior that is good, moral, and acceptable to society. I chanced upon BetterUp, a virtual coaching platform about integrity in the workplace. While the enumerated traits are known, this led to thoughts if those in the running have ever taken the time to study what their duties and responsibilities are, let alone their accountability.
Listed are the seven demonstrated by a person with integrity: they express gratitude toward others, value openness and honesty, take responsibility for their actions, show respect to everyone, are reliable and trustworthy, and remain patient and flexible when faced with unexpected challenges. To the best of your knowledge, does your candidate embody any of these, and who is deserving of being elected?
I am posting this question because I feel trapped by the limited options available to us, but refuse to succumb— even when faced with the realities of unfair elections, vote-buying, and the powerful political machinery that often outpaces more qualified candidates who genuinely want to bring about change but may lack the resources. There has been considerable debate about how to raise the bar to elect more qualified leaders, starting with constitutional amendments and implementing voter education early in school, but these are still to be realized or acted upon. The late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was right, even if the words are harsh, that the majority of voters are uneducated and vote for those who are uneducated to serve.
Despite all these, it is essential that we still participate in the voting process. We may not have the opportunity to make the most informed choices, but we must strive to make reasonable ones in hopes that our country will have a chance for a brighter future ahead.
Two weeks ago, a colleague spoke about the paucity of finding good people and the dim possibility of finding a true leader. Looking him straight in the eye, I emphatically told him, and must have sounded much like Pollyanna, that we shouldn’t be trapped in such a mindset because there are individuals who still know what is right from what is wrong and still champion the good.
Much is expected from those who genuinely aspire to lead. A leader must recognize that being in a position of authority is a privilege, not an entitlement, and should use their power judiciously and only in situations that truly warrant it. They should consistently strive to set an example by treating all individuals—regardless of social class, gender, or religious orientation—with the utmost respect and dignity. A leader’s actions must always align with their words if they wish to be taken seriously.
Exercise your right to vote wisely.
