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Ibelieve we Filipino citizens cannot just allow the downward spiral of our imperfect and often oligarch-dominated but still working Philippine democracy without doing anything to salvage it. Seriously.
How can we uplift the standards of the ongoing national horse race for the 2016 presidency in terms of intellectual and emotional maturity, work ethic, not to mention character?
By the way, I urge the Comelec Chairman Atty. Andy Bautista (who GMA Network, Inc. CEO Atty. Felipe Gozon said “has a great political future if he does well with the credibility of the 2016 polls”) to please allow at least one or two more days for final biometric registration for an estimated remaining three million voters.
We, the citizenry, should demand higher quality elections in 2016 focusing on genuine reform commitments, not just allow this race to become — once again — a cynical exercise in overspending, PR or “praise release” blitzes, back-room negotiations for command votes along religious lines or regional/ethnic tribal loyalties, patronage politics!
In recent months, there’s been an alarming decline in the quality of our politics (which to start with has not been high caliber, but often decent). Look at the number of ad hominem, personal attacks, instead of debating socio-economic issues like the urgent yet blocked lower taxes reform bills in the House of Representatives and Senate.
Slapping threats no better than ego clashes of ‘Heneral Luna’ era
The latest new low in our politics was the descent into what I’ll describe as “slapstick politics,” which is worse than corny slapstick comedy because the former is not so funny.
We saw the recent circus show of two serious presidential bets threatening to “magsampalan” (slap each other). I was so aghast that I unabashedly commented to Anthony Taberna for his DZMM radio show: “Baka sa susunod, magsasabunutan na sila (Maybe next, they’d pull each other’s hair already)!”
Should we allow our democracy to transmogrify into a theater of the absurd?
Since President Noy Aquino has not called for a halt to this political circus or convened the national security council meeting to stop this absurdity, I, as an ordinary citizen, immediately invited the 87-year-old retired former President Fidel V. Ramos to be the next guest speaker at the “Pandesal Forum” of the artisanal Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City.