“Their mantra of ‘let the voters decide’ is disingenuous and utterly dishonest”
In the debate whether political dynasties should be prohibited as the 1987 Constitution mandates, the argument raised by members of political families is that since no enabling law has been passed by Congress, the electorate themselves should decide whether to elect/re-elect them into public office.
That’s a rather disingenuous way by the political dynasties of saying that you can’t tell us what to do because we know what we’re doing, which is to enjoy power and privilege for as long as we can, and nobody can stop us.
It’s a mindset that seeks to use the uneducated and the ignorant among the electorate to vote them into office with big and grandiloquent but empty promises, if not by buying their votes with cold, hard cash.
We say: You decide, not the voters, if you really are honest and sincere in wanting to serve the people.
You can help the people in other ways: doing volunteer work uplifting the lives of those in poor communities; putting up or expanding your own business and providing more employment for the jobless; using the profits from your businesses to give farmers and workers a better chance to improve their quality of life instead of getting trapped in inter-generational poverty.
To the political families that want to monopolize political power whether at the national or the local levels, you know every well that you can simply buy votes especially among those who are in dire need of money because they have lost their jobs, or for other compelling reasons.
Hence, their mantra of “let the voters decide” is disingenuous and utterly dishonest.
“I want to help/serve the people” is another slogan bandied about by members of entrenched political dynasties. It’s a total falsehood. When they establish a firm grip on power, they are likely to help themselves to the national treasury and satisfy their insatiable thirst for unlimited wealth, power and influence.
The Ateneo School of Governance, which has conducted an extensive study on the growing number of both fat and thin dynasties in the Philippines, has concluded that political dynasties have in fact perpetuated poverty in the country instead of contributing to socio-economic development and an end to intergenerational poverty.
Ample proof that political dynasties have become a bane rather than a boon to political stability, economic advance and social concord is growing demand from various sectors for the Supreme Court to compel Congress, an independent branch of government, to pass an enabling law prohibiting political dynasties as soon as possible, with retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio leading the effort.
But will the High Tribunal decide in favor of the petitioners? We’ll have to wait and see.
What’s going on here?
Just to make sure that I would be able to vote on the May 12 midterm elections, I checked with the online Precinct Finder of the Commission on Elections.
I filled up the form with my name, address and date of birth. I had hoped that this would be something easy to do, and reassure me that I would be able to exercise my right of suffrage with no hassle at all.
But I was wrong. After I sent the completed online form to the poll body, I got this reply: “There is another voter with the same full name and birth date as yours in the city/municipality where you are registered. These multiple records may belong to you or to another different voters. We cannot be certain unless you provide us with more information
“Please contact the Office of the Election Officer to confirm you can vote on May 12, 2025. You may also email voterverifier @comelec. gov.ph for further verification which may require your provision of certain personally identifiable information.”
I tried to get in touch with the email address provided by the Comelec but failed twice.
My worry is this: Has the Comelec system been hacked and that another person claiming to be me and with the same date of birth would be able to vote on May 12 at the same precinct and I will be deprived of the right of suffrage? I hope not. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)