Proud to vote, ashamed of the choices

Exercising the right to vote is one of the most empowering acts a citizen can perform. It fills one with a rare sense of pride — a fleeting but genuine moment when your voice counts in shaping your nation’s future.

As I took my seat and began shading the names of candidates for the senatorial seats, I was reminded of the solemnity and privilege of the act. Voting, for a Filipino, should be an exercise in wisdom, patriotism and hope.

But pride quickly gave way to a heavy sadness.

Gone were the names of statesmen who once symbolized integrity, intellect and the noble spirit of public service — Salonga, Tañada, Tolentino, Diokno. Giants in a field now reduced to shadows. Their brilliance, their political intelligence and their unwavering dedication to the welfare of the Filipino people now feel like myths from a forgotten era.

Instead, what stared back at me were names plucked not from history books or law journals, but from movie posters, gossip columns and social media trends. In recent elections, our ballots have begun to resemble cast lists for the latest blockbuster rather than rosters of legislative promise.

And that is where the shame begins to creep in.

The Senate — once a revered chamber of reasoned debate and nation-building — now risks becoming a stage for farce. We see it filled with brothers and sisters of political dynasties, washed-up action stars, entertainers turned lawmakers, and self-proclaimed do-gooders whose only qualification is visibility. They know little of lawmaking, even less of policy, and nothing of the complexities of governance.

Their voices may be loud, but they lack substance. Their promises are flashy, but hollow. Their presence in the Senate is not only a disservice to the institution but a betrayal of the Filipino people's need for competent and principled leadership.

Yet, the outcome is almost always predictable — cast in stone, as if written by a script we’ve seen too many times before.

It is not just a shameful outcome. It is a national tragedy in slow motion.

When our lawmakers are chosen for their fame instead of their credentials, we do not just risk legislative incompetence — we invite it. We normalize mediocrity. 

And we teach the next generation that politics is a game for the popular, not the principled.

So here we are — proud to vote, ashamed of the options. Proud to be Filipino, but often embarrassed by what we settle for. We just never learn. –  Dante P. Navarro, contributor