Napili mo na ba ang mga senador na iboboto mo?
(Here’s a quick online quiz to help you choose rationally)
In a few days, we will once again exercise our right to choose our leaders. What’s of national interest this time is the election of 12 senators.
Have you chosen the names you will write on the ballot? Please remember to treat this as a sacred right and responsibility because your vote will not only affect yourself but the entire country. It is important that we make our choices seriously and intelligently.
We tend to avoid talking about our choices with our family and friends in order to keep the peace. While most people just shrug this off as a difference in opinion or choice, I consider it much more than that. What do I mean?
Let me explain by giving you this example. Suppose you have a son who’s now entering grade school and he passed both Ateneo and La Salle entrance tests. You will now have to choose where to enroll him. If your dear friend insists that you enroll him in the blue school because of various reasons, but you enroll him in the green school, I assure you, you two can easily remain good friends because the effect of your choice is somewhat limited to your son’s or even your family’s life. (You will just have to sit on opposite sides of the Araneta Coliseum come UAAP games. 
) But not when it comes to choosing the leaders we put in power.
This time your choice will affect the life of your friend and the lives of more than a hundred million Filipinos! It’s disheartening to point out how we take these choices lightly when we all know that the result of such action can damn the whole nation!
As we see every election year, we almost always vote with our middle finger! (Click Are you voting with your middle finger? to understand this phenomenon.)
No matter how well we know that in voting we have to use our rational pre-frontal cortex, we can’t help but allow our emotional limbic brain to make that choice. And then we use our rational pre-frontal brain to rationalize our choice. We are doing it wrong!Baliktad!
For the coming elections, let’s try to do it the right way. The job of a senator is critical and actually very cerebral. It also requires high moral standards, but look who’s topping the surveys?We need senators who will craft laws that will be for the common good. So, for once, let’s try to be rational and issue-oriented in our choice.
The viral online quiz
I came across this online toolthat can help us rationally choose the names that we will write on May 13. It’s a short online quiz that makes us go through ten major issues. After we take the quiz, we will see the names of the senatorial candidates ranked from 1 onwards, according to how closely they share our values and stand on those key issues.
Isn’t that a better way? It’s a very handy preliminaryfilter to help us choose rationally based on issues and values, which should be the case - regardless of their survey ranking, regardless of how many posters and ads they have bombarded us with and littered our streets with.
The guy behind this tool is Ryan Yu. I personally know this kid (sorry Ryan, I still call you a kid because I’ve known you since you were a kid! ). He was the class valedictorian of my second son’s batch both in high school and college. He is not just super smart but is also loved and respected by his batch. Right after graduation, he worked at the Department of Finance, then moved to McKinsey& Company, and currently works at Thinking Machines Data Science, until he leaves for Harvard Business School in August to take up his masters.
I took the short online quiz and I was happy to note that indeed, the senatorial candidates I had in mind are the ones who share my stand on the ten key issues. If you want to further see how each candidate stands on the issues, you may click on his/her name to find out. Here’s the link and give it a try. It’s advisable to take it on your laptop, or if you’re taking it on your handheld device, view it on landscape.
Click https://public.tableau.com/profile/ryan.yu1783#!/vizhome/PHSenatorialCandidateQuiz/Dashboard
For the Filipino version
Click https://public.tableau.com/profile/ryan.yu1783#!/vizhome/PagsusuriparasaHalalan2019/Dashboard
This online quiz is a preliminary filter. Learn more about the candidates in your top 12. But if a few minutes is all you can allot to this important exercise, at the very least take the quiz. If you are so into taking all those “Who is your celebrity look-alike?” or “How old are you according to Facebook?” then please, do take this quiz.
To further discuss the PH Senatorial Candidate Quiz, I will have Ryan Yu as our guest on this Friday’s FQwentuhan. Join us on our FQ Mom FB Page or FQ Mom You tube channel at seven in the morning or any time at your convenience.
Cheers to rational voting and high FQ! 
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. How has the podcasting journey been like? As a beginner podcaster, let Anton share with you the challenges and processes he has faced to come up with this weekly show. We’re always open to comments, suggestions and COLLABORATIONS! Let’s connect. 
:) E-mail us at [email protected]
#MomAndSonPodcast
You can stream the episode through the following:
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6rrTi7L8tumV1SU27KJ9nC?si=GV14R9khQLe-DTVmb_uEpA
Buzzsprout
https://www.buzzsprout.com/241447/1093985-mom-and-son-podcast-season-2-episode-6-my-podcasting-journey-so-far
Apple iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/mom-son-podcast-episode-1-bullying/id1449688689?i=1000427744572
YouTube
https://youtu.be/Yqs1MaNPPOA
2. Looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift? Give her the gift of wisdom and love through our FQ Mom book bundles.
Check out the 2 bundles available and order now! Select your chosen book bundle (see images below). Send us a private message in our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FQMom) with your Name, Shipping Address, Contact Number and Email Address. After which, we will send you the payment details for your order.
Promo runs until May 12, Mother’s Day Only.
#FQMomBookBundles #FQMomPromo
3. Our FQwentuhan this Friday, May 10, will feature Ryan Yu to discuss the PH Senatorial Candidate Quiz. Watch the video on Friday to learn more and how you can vote wisely by using the quiz results!
4. Thanks to those who already bought the FQ Book, especially to those who took the time out to send me their feedback. Your feedback is food for my soul. To those who have not gotten their copy yet, here’s a short preview of "FQ: The nth Intelligence."
You may now purchase the book in major bookstores, or if you want autographed copies, please go to FQ Mom FB page (click SHOP), or FQMom.com (click BOOKS), or email us at [email protected]
5. Want to know where your FQ stands? Take the FQ Test Challenge now! Click link. http://rebrand.ly/FQTest
Rose Fres Fausto is a speaker and author of bestselling books Raising Pinoy Boys and The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon (English and Filipino versions). Click this link to read samples – Books of FQ Mom. She is a behavioral economist, a certified Gallup strengths coach and the grand prize winner of the first Sinag Financial Literacy Digital Journalism Awards. Follow her on Facebook&YouTube as FQ Mom, and Twitter&Instagram as theFQMom. Her latest book is "FQ: The nth Intelligence."
ATTRIBUTIONS: Photos from specialneedsanswers.com,chittagongit.com, canva.com, public.tableau.com, and mckinsey.commodified and used to help deliver the message of the article.
