Give to candidates

Tomorrow is the deadline for the filing of certificate of candidacy (COC) for various local and national positions in the 2019 midterm elections. Expect the candidates to be trooping the Comelec offices today and tomorrow.

In Cebu City, the two rival parties, the Bando Osmena Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) and the Barug-PDP Laban have already bared their complete slate. BOPK candidates were scheduled to file their COCs yesterday, while Barug-PDP Laban candidates will be filing their COCs tomorrow, Wednesday.

The battle for control of Cebu City Hall is shaping up to be an unprecedented and interesting contest, and I’m sure candidates and partisans from both sides are gearing up for a battle royale, so to speak. I just hope that the candidates would deliver a quality contest that clearly draws the line on where each party stands on important issues.

Among the candidates I consider as high quality is former councilor Alvin Dizon who is trying to make a comeback under the BOPK slate. During his two terms in the city council and even after, Dizon has worked consistently and diligently for urban poor and housing rights. He had proposed and shepherded legislation in education, environmental protection, and women and youth empowerment.

Whichever team you prefer or are rooting for, make your voice heard in various media and during campaign pulong-pulongs. Examine and discuss with the candidates their platform of government and their ability to deliver on their platform. Democracy cannot be reduced to just voting during election day. Issues can be defined and redefined from the interaction between citizens and candidates.

In fact, I invite you to do something more – why not contribute to the campaign of those candidates whom you believe deserve to be in office? No person is incapable of giving. I can attest to that because even my most modest clients give me whatever it is they can best give. An incident a few years ago that I could not forget was a farmer-client giving me a live goat outside the court house.

We cannot expect to have a good government if we do not support our preferred candidates. For sure, I am not about to lecture people against vote selling and vote buying. Doing so entails a more thorough discussion on a host of cultural and socio-economic issues that goes beyond a lofty sermon about political reform and good governance.

I just want people to consider this: The least of a worthy candidate’s worry should be where to get the resources for his campaign. In an ideal set-up, no deserving candidate should be personally burdened financially in his bid to run for office.

In college, we ran for positions in the student council and other student organizations without spending a single cent from our pockets. That was because we belonged to student political parties which already have a mass base of supporters willing to contribute materials for our campaign posters, t-shirts, and snacks.

This political culture in school, however, has not rubbed off to our local and national politics.

That is the primary reason why our electoral exercise always offers a shallow pool of talent that voters have to choose from. There are, of course, moneyed candidates who are worthy and deserving, but they too should not be funding their own campaign. No matter how incredible this may sound but this is where I stand in words and in deed in every election.

One more thing. When you support your preferred candidates, do not ask for something in return, except one thing: good and honest public service.