A SURVEY conducted by Pulse Asia between Feb. 20 and 26 this year revealed that Filipinos generally have a negative view of politics in the country.
In the open-ended survey which asked: “In one word or sentence, how would you describe politics in our country at present?” and where participants could give only one answer, more than a third – 37.9 percent — of registered voters consider politics as “magulo” or chaotic.
Another 17.3 percent say politics is corrupt or characterized by the exchange of money: “pera-pera lang/ korap.” Some 10.9 percent relate local politics with fights, division, and lack of unity (awayan/ watak watak/ walang pagkakaisa) ; yet another 5.8 percent say politics involves cheating or vote buying (dayaan, dugasan/ bilihan ng boto).
Other descriptions include madumi (dirty, 3.2 percent), ekslusibo/ dinastiya/ elitista (exclusive/ dynasty/ elitism, 2.6 percent), paasa/ pangakuan (mere promises, 2.6 percent), makasarili/ personal na interes ang nangingibabaw (selfish and personal interests, 1.7 percent), at agawan sa puwesto (battling for positions, 1.4 percent), mahina ang pamahalaan, di natutugunan ang mga pangunahing problema (1.4 percent, kriminalidad nanumbalik (1.3 percent), abuso/ inaabuso ang kanilang posisyon/ gahaman sa posisyon (abuse of position/ greed, 1.2 percent), patayan (killings, 1.1 percent), and mahirap ang kalagayan/ pamumuhay (difficult or poor living conditions, 1.0 percent).
Among the 10 modifiers, only one positive quality – maayos (orderly) – was used, and by a mere 4.2 percent of respondents.
The campaign period for local posts will begin this Friday, March 28; campaigning for national posts began on Feb. 11. As we inch closer to Election Day, more of the ugly side of politics is bound to emerge, as we know too well. This time, the already-complicated election scenario is compounded by heightened sentiment on the detention of former President Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court and the looming impeachment trial of his daughter, the Vice President. While evidence appears overwhelming, their substantial – and noisy – following, as well as the unabashed use of disinformation to push certain narratives, threaten to skew public opinion through a misappreciation of facts.
The good news is that we are not mere spectators. While we note our perceptions of politics, we have the opportunity – in fact, a duty – to elect officials who could change these very perceptions by their words, actions, and decisions. Why choose the same old names when all they have brought us are chaos, corruption, division, cheating, partisanship, empty promises, and personal interests, among others?
The bad news is that any perceptible changes will take years.
Filipinos must prepare for a long and arduous battle ahead. We must look beyond the comfort and familiarity of prominent names and examine the issues, advocacies, and track records of candidates. We must remember that the only way our votes could go to waste is if we do not use them to fight what we already believe is deplorable.