Today is the start of the
filing of certificates of candidacy for
over 18,000 positions at stake in the
May 9, 2016 elections. Those aspiring to be elected to public office have until
Friday, October 16 to file their CoCs.
Up for grabs are the
positions for president, vice president, 12 senators, 58 party-list
representatives, 235 district representatives, 81 governors, 81 vice governors, 772 provincial board members, 144
city mayors, 144 vice mayors, 1610 city councilors, 1490 municipal mayors, and vice mayors and
11,924 municipal councilors.
The
2016 polls will once more allow Filipinos to exercise their right of suffrage
guaranteed by our Constitution. After all, free and fair elections are a
centerpiece of a democratic system.
Without free and fair elections, we will have a dictatorship where
leaders are imposed from above.
Some
would of course say that free and fair elections are impossible in a system
that is democratic in form but dominated by a ruling elite that controls both
the political and economic set-up. But others would assert that, at least, we
are given the opportunity to choose our own leaders, even if many of them come
from the ranks of the affluent in our society.
In
any event, with thousands of candidates trooping to the Comelec to fill up
their certificates of candidacy, what voters should do would be to scrutinize
the qualifications of those who offer themselves as our future leaders.
We
should vote for those who have unsullied integrity, and reject those who have
been involved in corruption and wrongdoing.
We
should also take a close look at their track records to see whether they have
leadership qualities.
And
we should ask them what is their platform, or what they plan to do if they win.
If
the candidates fail any of these tests, don’t vote for them.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento