I remember Tom Hanks schooling Meg Ryan about the movie “The Godfather” in a scene from “You’ve got mail”. He was mentioning that everything anyone had to learn from life he could learn from “The Godfather”. He then proceeds to recite key lines such as “going to the mattresses”, “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday”, and “leave the gun, take the cannoli”. Indeed, this movie is something else. In its time, and even today, it ranks as one of the best films ever made.
So I got to thinking about that last quote above. That cannoli must have been really good for Clemenza to still want it after dispatching of Paulie the driver! But I digress. So I got to thinking, especially with the elections coming up, where vote buying will surely be rampant especially from those who just have tons of money, to just “take the money, vote your conscience”.
In times like these, that money will help a lot, no matter what anyone says. If a candidate operates on the premise that offering money will get him the votes, oblige him or her halfway by taking the money, but voting whoever you think is qualified for the tasks ahead.
And a gargantuan task indeed. The country’s educational system begs to be overhauled. We have fallen behind practically every country when it comes to providing quality education to the masses. One only has to go to any public school to see what pitiful conditions students have to go through for an education. Even the lessons themselves need to be reviewed, what with the proliferation of horrifying errors on textbooks! And that’s just in Metro Manila. We’re not even talking of the provinces. We may have some of the best schools in the world, but accessible only to those who can afford it. That is not what a country’s educational system should be.
Health care is another big issue. We have one of the best, and the poorest medical facilities. As if illustrating the wide gap between the haves and the have nots. Quality health care for the poor is still elusive, since the government cannot put enough money into state hospitals for charity cases.
In both instances, corruption is still to blame. Which is why I just cannot stress enough why we need candidates who are spotless. Who have the desire to effect real change in a system whose corrupt roots have gone deep. Who have no histories of corruption nor impropriety. Ever. It is no secret that I’m rooting for Noy and Mar. Who else?
So come election time, and the offers come, take the money, vote your conscience. A conscience directed towards good.