Election Reflection

Voting matters. In a free society, it’s a duty-not only to vote, but to be worthy of voting, by
educating yourself.

As a voter, it is our right to choose the person we opt to write in our ballots. But that doesn’t
mean that we’re going to choose whoever we know just because they are well known,
prominent, a friend or a relative. We should be careful enough and think not just twice but
many times if the person we are going to vote for is capable, has the heart to serve and
worthy enough to sit. Especially those who already served previously and are re-electing. We
all know that every term of a candidate who will win takes three years to sit.

This election 2019, I was shocked, dismayed and disappointed on the results of the
Senatorial Elections. How come that there are still people who supported and voted Bong
Revilla the fact that everybody knows he haven’t accomplished anything yet he was even
imprisoned. There was even a person who was interviewed and asked why did she vote for
him and she answered it is because he is handsome and knows how to dance “budots”. I
don’t understand what kind of mentality do these people has. A very irrelevant reasoning.
They just wasted their votes.

I am not yet an official voter but being a citizen of our country, I am concerned with the
effects of the consequences because of the mentality of our elders. Maybe they aren’t really
thinking at all. What will happen to our country if we are to let these people sit and rule the
country. Aren’t we the ones to suffer the consequences? Well, I just do hope that these
politicians who were given a chance especially those who are not worth it will realize that
people love them so they should give back the love and support given to them by doing the
right thing and serving them the right way.

There are some people who do vote but won't bother to vote for other candidates. For
instance, they only vote for congressman and governor but don’t bother to vote the lower
ones. Or just to single vote for Sangguniang Bayan and for the Councilors. I think this is
completely wrong. We are given the privilege and opportunity to choose our leadership freely.
Why will we waste this by not following the process and be fair. As former US President John
F. Kennedy quoted “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”

During the campaign when the Holy Week came, the church announced that the Lenten
Season should be respected. That there should no campaigning on that time. Yet there were
supporters who distributed bottled water, face towels and other campaign materials with the
printed names and pictures of the candidates. This only shows that these politicians are not
deserving because they do not have respect. How much more when they won? Would they be
able to give respect not only to the religion but to the people who have voted for them.

Vote buying and selling is one of the dirtiest act during elections. It is good for politicians
who have the money to buy votes. But for a voter, it is a worst thing to do. When you have
sold your vote, that means you have sold your personality in that kind of amount. We all
know that we are living in a corrupt country and though these candidates have spent
millions during the campaign, they will be able to retrieve it when they win and sit on their
“thrones”. I think there will be no vote buying if there are no people who are tempted to sell
their votes. If only they decline to accept this vote buying then maybe the politicians will
realize that they were elected not because they bribed people but because of the love and
support of the people. In that way, they will be able to repay the people with the good and
right services.

After the elections, we have seen on the news that the pamphlets, tarpaulins and other
paraphernalia used during the campaign were just scattered. It should be the job of the
politicians and their supporters to clean after the election whether they won or not.

I am glad to see that here in our town, the supporters together with the politicians being
together in collecting the garbage left after the campaign. They even recycled the tarpaulins
and made them into useful things. I have seen pictures posted in facebook the candidates
who were holding the bags made out of the tarpaulins. If only everybody has this kind of
mentality then there will be less trash in our society and it is a great help to our Mother
Nature.

One of the advocacies of our President is the War on Drugs. Now that most of the senators
who won are under the Administration, would it be possible that there will be more citizens
who will die just because of this campaign? The president’s campaign is actually good. It has
made a good result to the society. But then what am I not in favor of is the solution they
came up to to resolve the problem. There are a lots of solutions in any problem and killing is
not a one.