Hope or gloom?
The political bug bit me. It was not the kind though that would have made me run for office because, at this late part of my life, I would rather listen to songs by John Gary and Jerry Vale on my antique (circa 1981) component than campaign. But my once-upon-a-time politician's mentality was challenged so I went to some parts of the city on the first day of the campaign period to observe how present-day candidates do their thing. On one hand I saw a glimmer of hope among neophytes, on the other hand I was disappointed after recycled barangay politicians did not even present any viable program of government other than saying "akong ipadayon ang nasugdan" without identifying what they began.
On hindsight, I must admit that my pre-conceived biases led me to my opposite perceptions. I have always said that the kind of leaders I want to vote for have profound minds and socially-inclined hearts. Each time I came to a pulong-pulong I asked for any leaflet. My priority had then been, and will always be, to know the academic achievements of the speaker. Between a high school dropout and a college graduate running for kagawad, my bet for a good councilor would always be the latter. That was my frame of mind. So, if I got hold of a political handbill with nothing written about his educational background, that was a red flag. The missing information would weigh heavily against the candidate.
Last Sunday, I wrote with unbridled pride about the candidates for kagawad in Kasambagan. I said then that this election is a historical first in terms of the educational achievements of the candidates. Imagine there are two lawyers in Joemar Poblete and Grace Colina, two engineers in Joseph Moring and Rolly Lequigan, a doctor in Lorna Embalzado, Alan Daag who heads the nutrition department of a leading hotel, and accomplished businessman George Chang even if he is an under board in architecture. Their team leader and candidate for captain, Letty Lim, also a college graduate, must be very fortunate to assemble such professionals.
It gave me hope to know there were also other candidates with college degrees. Their constituents should work hard to campaign for them. My notion is that these professionals will be guided by the values they learned in college. They may have different disciplines, but in their search for knowledge they presumably have adopted a common denominator. They know that it is corruption of the worst order to "buy" votes. Honesty will rule over them. Decency will tell them to campaign hard but never to bribe. There is therefore a solid expectancy that they veer away from vote-buying. In that paradigm, it becomes the duty of wise electorates to vote for such professionals.
There were recycled politicians whom I heard from that Friday. I refer to those who failed in their educational pursuit and yet somehow managed to get elected. That is democracy, of course. But what solid program can we expect from someone who did not have both patience and determination to obtain a college diploma? They are the candidates whose leadership I can attach a welter of doubt and apprehension. They, that Friday, cast a pall of political gloom in our midst.
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