“Legislation should not be the result of a popularity contest.”
Santa Banana, with almost 200 candidates filing their Certificates of Candidacy, the Senate race has become a big joke!
With a mixture of all sorts of characters from the sublime to those facing violations of the law and what have you, in my many years as a journalist, I have never seen a mixture of so many characters as those who want to become senators in the midterm elections of 2025.
Except for those I can count on my fingers, most of them are running to make money, seeking financial help from those who are crazy enough to give them money. My gulay, I know of a former chief of police who made the rounds of people who were crazy enough to give him a few thousand pesos. That character wanted to make money.
In next year’s list of senatoriables, there are characters and faces who think that voters are dumb enough to vote for them. But, there are, because most of our voters belong to the masa. For instance, there’s Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church and “self-appointed Son of God” who filed his COC for the Senate. You may ask if there are people who would vote for somebody like Quiboloy who is facing cases of rape, sexual abuse of minors, human trafficking , and money laundering. Guess what?
My gulay, there are also those who believe that one is good enough to be a lawmaker just because they are TV hosts or media personalities who get involved in the problems of those who seek their help. I will not name them because you know them. In fact, these characters have been topping surveys because there are people who are carried away by their popularity. That’s the problem of our kind of politics where people vote because of popularity.
This is why I believe that the people deserve the kind of leaders they elect. Gone are the days of statesmen like Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Tanada, Lorenzo Sumulong, Quintin Paredes. They were our pride. These days, when people complain about politicians, they should be reminded that they deserve them because they voted for them.
The bulk of our electorate cannot distinguish between real and reel, especially when a movie action star is running. Santa Banana, there was the late action star “FPJ” (Fernando Poe Jr.) who wanted to be president, and almost won.
Talking about movie stars becoming presidents. Soon enough we might have Vice Ganda and Coco Martin running for the Senate.
Santa Banana, the Senate has Lito Lapid, an action star. But, I ask, what has he contributed for the benefit of the people? And yet, ALYANSA of President Marcos Jr. has again included him in its Senate slate. I am not saying that movie stars cannot do well to contribute to the good of the country. Senator Robin Padilla, for example, is doing very well as chairman of the Senate Committee for Constitutional Change. In fact, I would say that his proposals for constitutional amendments make a lot of sense.
My point is that voters should take a second look at the qualifications of senatorial candidates. They should not only be natural born citizens. They should have at least finished college. Manny Pacquiao only finished fourth grade, and yet he became a senator, and is now running again. He has the billions of pesos he earned as a boxer. Santa Banana, what can a fourth-grader do to contribute to the national good?
How can we have good leaders where popularity is the main consideration?
It is for this reason why I say the Senate race has become a circus. The job of a senator or legislator requires much more than just popularity.
Another thing: we need to limit a family’s inclusion in the Senate to one. In other words, Santa Banana, let us not make the Senate an institution for family members!
