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To Suffer Rightly with Our Right to Suffrage

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Our right to suffrage should supposedly deliver us from the wayward politicians who have done less (if there was any) to pull us out of the economic mayhem we have learned to live by. But that is no longer what is happening now. The value of our voting power is no longer governed by what our conscience dictate. The worth of our freedom to choose our government is now dependent on the market value offered by every candidate. To date, I have yet to see a strong-willed Filipino who- amidst the tinkle of money (for the masses); the enticement of a promised position (for those rich ones close to the candidate); and the lure of regulation laxity (for the business tycoons) each politician offers- refuses to conform to the evil of vote buying.

Selling our votes means giving up our right to demand for the promises these politicians make. That goes to say that the Php1,000 (lower or higher) we get today out of our voting power inhibits us from whatever right for any objection we intend to raise tomorrow. With the small amount comes a long term silence- a silence that will give us the loudest uproar of deprivation; a silence that gives authority for those in our government to do whatever anomaly they intend to do; a silence that will keep our eyes open yet deaf-mute for all the irregularities in our country simply because we have sold our rights to rightfully question the culprits.

In analysis, there are no buyers if there are no sellers. The so called masses should realize how the money they receive so momentarily satiate some of their needs. That in the long run, they not only gamble their lives but also those who have chosen to exercise their right of suffrage conscientiously. If the masses who constitute the majority votes in this country (and who are the easy prey of those vote buyers) would only try to be selfless for once, we can rightfully and collectively condemn those who have not been faithful to their advocacies.

In a deeper analysis, there are no sellers if there are no buyers also. I wouldn’t blame the poor for taking what is being offered. I will blame the buyers for taking advantage of the frailty of those whose plights in life prompted them to contentedly pocket the small amount that would temporarily feed them and yet bit by bit would drown them into nothingness. Shame on the politicians who buy votes! -Shame on their selfish motives, shame on their hunger for power and shame on them for corrupting the minds of the poor.

Our uncertainties will continue to thrive. Our questions of deliverance will persist unless we start to take that one step of giving dignity to our voting power. Our current destitution is a result of irresponsible actions from both the voting public and the elected officials. The worthless blaming will continue unless we start to pin our hopes to not only the candidates but to ourselves as well. Let us respect our right to suffrage.