Think Bits
With the elections still a few months away, the voters have enough time to reflect on who to vote for, in particular the president who will lead the country in the next six years.
The choice of a new president would either enable us to succeed as a nation or pull us down deeper into that unenviable status of being doormats to our Southeast Asian neighbors. That’s why it is very important for us to choose the right candidate for president.
A president who is not vindictive but who becomes a father to all regardless of the person’s political beliefs.
We need a president who would support local autonomy, who would support efforts to strengthen the empowerment of the local governments.
I believe that with the myriad of problems faced by our country, it is unrealistic to believe that it can be solved by only one person, namely the president.
I firmly believe that these problems can be solved by local leaders who are from the area and are in the best position to understand and implement solutions to those problems.
I firmly believe that the federal system of government is the most effective solution to our present highly centralized system of government.
Our current setup centralizes power in Manila that’s why so many problems in the country persist because the leaders with the most power cannot see beyond Manila.
To them, Imperial Manila–as we outsiders are fond of describing it–and Luzon are the center of the country’s universe.
I support a leader who advocates the shift from a highly centralized system of government to a federal system where local governments have more autonomy and freedom to decide on how to resolve their own problems.
A federal system that allows local governments to retain more of their own resources without sacrificing support to the national government.
Let us also examine the track records of the candidates especially during their time when they were in power as mayor, department head or as a senator because it would provide us a bird’s eye view of his or her competency.
How about the candidate’s track record in the war on graft and corruption? It also depends if the person accused of graft and corruption had been convicted in court.
Let us also examine those who accused a candidate of graft and corruption especially if they have the moral ascendancy and the track rccord to make these accusations gain credibility in the eyes of the public.
For all we know they may have skeletons inside their closets that have yet to be revealed.
It is also important to look into the track record of candidates who used to be members of the Aquino cabinet. Did they succeed in improving the delivery of services to the public especially after calamities?
In Vice President Jejomar Binay’s case, it is good to look into and examine his performance as a vice president and a former member of President Aquino’s Cabinet.
Regarding former Interior and Local Governments secretary Mar Roxas, the public should also look into his performance as a former Transportation secretary. What did he do to solve the horrendous traffic in Metro Manila for example?
As for Sen. Grace Poe, her greatest challenge lies in her disqualification case pending before the Supreme Court.
The High Tribunal has yet to decide on her citizenship and residency requirement which are very crucial to her candidacy.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is the only candidate who advocates for the federal system of government but let’s not forget his track record especially on complaints about his human rights violation and his ties with the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Recently, Mayor Duterte was seen to have suffered from over fatigue due to his hectic schedule. Questions about his health arose and these will come into play during the remaining two months of the campaign period.
Aside from his health, voters still have to evaluate whether they can accept Duterte’s penchant for using foul, gutter language which got him into trouble with the country’s largely Catholic population after he was taped cursing Pope Francis for causing last year’s traffic congestion in Manila during his visit.
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago also faces questions about her health and whether she can stand the grueling campaign stops required to win over voters from across the country.
If ever she does get elected, can Santiago endure the rigors of running the country or delegate her responsibilities more to her running mate, Sen. Bongbong Marcos?
Lately we have seen her in the campaign trail but not a few observed that she has been absent in some of the major sorties.
It is best that we start to examine the track records of our candidates including those running for the Senate because they would also play a crucial role in the new administration.