Opinion on Philippines Political System

             By Medel M. Usona

I have a lot of things to do, in fact I have kept myself busy, reviewing for the upcoming board exam in Electrical Engineering...

But Last night I just could not help thinking about the condition of our country; particularly the political system. It sounds absurd for me to entertain such thoughts.

I 'm asking myself how can we free our government from corruption if it starts with the election of our official. What does the commission require--- on my knowledge, in order to be qualified as a candidate you have to have sufficient machinery to organize your campaign. In short words, you have to be popular! You must have enough money in order to serve the country! Then we are complaining why! why most of the officials we have elected are corrupt! why most of them are after their interest! It is simply because we have not thoroughly examined the candidates.

Will it be better if we have a commission that will screen the capacity, personality and background of a person running for a seat in government offices? I think so. Because, for me serving our country is not plainly the right of anyone, it is a serious duty and responsibility! It should not be a game of fame and wealth.

I have several ideas in order to turn down the inefficient tradition of our political system prior to the election.

The candidate must pass the the following criteria..

He/She must posses the ability and/or experience to manage or hold the position he/she is running for. The screening should be done by a commission -say group of lawyers. The campaign will not be done individually by the running individuals. Their mission and vision as well as their personality and background will be presented in newspaper and/or televisions and radios. This will be shouldered by the commission on elections.

- This is to secure FAIR campaigns, everyone will be identified by the voters.

"Naisip ko ang mga ito noong mag-apply ako para sa board exam registration. Nasabi ko sa sarili ko kung kami na mga nagtapos na sa kolehiyo ay kinakailangan pa na kumuha ng exam para makapagpractice ng aming profesyon dapat lang na ung mga nagnanais na maupo sa gobyerno ay dumaan muna sa mga screening bago kumandidato."

Right now, the candidates can be compared with commodities. Commercials and ads are the battlegrounds. Those who have the most number of commercials and hippest ads have the highest chances of winning. How about those who cannot afford commercial's fees amounting to millions. And another thing, we are not sure if those ads are really true or they are only misleading....

Today's politics is not that good whether we accept it or not... We need to change our standards! We have to save our future generation. Politics should not be based on who is famous or wealthy! Nor should it be a popularity contest, lest we're doomed. It should be a determination of who has the capacity of serving and leading our country.

Medel M. Usona
Filipino Citizen