Just last Saturday, I was informed that the school requires us to register for the upcoming elections. We were told by my NSTP moderator that all students taking the program are required to present proof of their registration, either the Voter’s ID or the official receipt, to their respective program moderators. Failing to do so would apparently merit a deduction in our grades, but I wasn’t too clear on which component this falls under, or on how much they’ll deduct.

At first, I wasn’t too comfortable hearing about this (is it right for schools to interfere with the student’s exercise of his or her political rights?), but I personally don’t mind. I intend to vote in the upcoming elections, and I have been planning to register since the beginning of summer. In fact, my family decided that we were all going to register together. We were going to bond over it.

I would still like to believe that my vote counts for something, even if it’s hard to divorce the election process from harsh realities such as cheating and fraud. Or even if we’re not entirely sure there’s going to be an election. The point is that democracy fails without its voters. Voting is often the only opportunity that we ordinary citizens get to directly influence our society. If we collectively choose not to make use of it, then we might as well deny our existence as a republic, and leave the course of our lives to the whims of those who would take the reins of leadership by force.

Originally though, I did not want to vote.

After turning eighteen last year, I had decided that I wouldn’t vote in the 2010 elections. My most important consideration was that I didn’t believe in a system where evil deeds are rewarded and no good deeds go unpunished. Neither did I believe in any of the prospective candidates, who seem to be sprouting off the same generalities in different words when asked to talk about their plans for the country.

I didn’t believe back then that my vote counted for something.

At the time, it seemed to me that the elections are just another superficial exercise we go through as a nation to keep some semblance of democracy. It is like an estranged husband and wife staying together for the kids when there is no love between them. The elections are just one big joke we play on ourselves because the truth hurts. And the truth is that we don’t know any other way to run our country.

A year later, I still feel the same way. It isn’t as if the situation has become at least marginally better. Elections are still won on personalities and payouts, not platforms. Parties are still little more than loose political alliances, little more than another way for the voters to remember the candidates’ names. Our political culture is still just a little more than non-existent. And our candidates are still little more than the same people.

The only thing that seems to have changed is that the elections are going to be automated. At the very least, I guess, you spend a little less time in the election booth.

But even if things haven’t changed all that much, I’ve realized that it is still better to participate in the process than to shun it. Not participating is as good as saying you don’t believe this society can move forward under a democratic system. It is a declaration of surrender in a hopeless situation. I figure that if I’m not going to vote, I might as well leave and find some other, better country to reside in. I may as well abandon ship.

Not voting is also a form of protest—and my decision back then was motivated by the desire to protest against the injustices that are perpetrated by the system and its operators.

But then again, if I wanted to make a difference, I figured that my gesture should count. After all, there is a difference between abstaining and not voting. An abstain vote is still making a statement, and it is one that would be counted in the ballots.

We have been taught since grade school that with rights come responsibilites. With suffrage, or the right to vote, I believe that the foremost responsibility is to make use of it; everything else follows from there. True, our laws and our candidates might seem weak, but it is only by persistently undergoing the experience of election after election that our country will learn to select the right leaders. Otherwise, we might as well resort to a revolution, because there is no other acceptable way to pick leaders in a democratic society.

This is why I feel obligated to vote.

]]> http://james.soriano-ph.com/2009/07/obligated-to-vote/feed/ 1 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/ http://james.soriano-ph.com/2008/10/lets-talk-politics/ http://james.soriano-ph.com/2008/10/lets-talk-politics/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:22:37 +0000 James Soriano http://james.soriano-ph.com/?p=110 PUBLISHED: Student & Campus Section, Manila Bulletin, 1 October 2008 Issue (Page E-3)

I’ve been looking forward to the Obama-McCain debate for quite some time now, but I must say that after watching CNN’s coverage of it last Saturday, I was rather disappointed.

I expected someone to take the lead in this campaign, but no one did. More emphasis was seemingly put on antagonizing the other candidate’s stances than on a fruitful discussion about policies. In particular, the debate became very intense when it came to the issue of Iraq and the Middle East. Obama continued to depict McCain as a supporter of the Bush administration; McCain continued to paint Obama as an inexperienced candidate. Afterwards, both campaigns released statements saying that their candidate had won. I don’t know who to believe.

Nonetheless, if there’s anything I admire about the political culture of the United States, it’s the fact that citizens continue to value these kinds of exchanges. Debates are an excellent avenue for presenting platforms and comparing policies. As far as government goes, these are the most important things we need to look out for when we elect a country’s leaders.

Funnily enough, while we’ve based much of our own system of government on theirs, this tradition of discussing platforms and policies through an intellectual clash is something that we’ve never inherited.

In our country, not much value is placed on the practice of debate in elections. Instead, our political culture (if it exists) is obsessed with pandering to images– and images only.

In the Philippines, the practice of elections approximates American Idol: it is mostly a battle of personalities. It explains why campaign jingles work, why actors win, and why few candidates seems to pay attention to making a real platform– which might also account for why there are no political parties here in the real sense of the word. We might as well turn elections into a reality show.

Then again, it’s not like there’s much we can do about that. If it’s true that history repeats itself, then this phenomenon of voting for the most handsome candidate is merely a repetition of how we used to select our datus based on who seems most charismatic. It’s all just a cycle that will continue to recur, and there is nothing we can do to change it.

Also, the idea of making Juan de la Cruz listen to some boring debate about whether candidates support the E-VAT is not quite as convincing as, say, the monetary ‘handouts’ that politicians would give to voters. The harsh realities of politics in the Philippines will continue to be there, and they will be much stronger forces than the force of reason.

It’s not like they’ll take these ideas seriously, anyway. Their ideas will not matter if they don’t put them into action. And it’s hard to put faith in a system that has promised us so many big things before, but have continued to fail us today.

But maybe that’s the problem. Since when did ‘progress’ or ‘poverty elimination’ become platforms? Why does no one ever talk about concrete measures, like the reform of relief programs, the passing of laws, or the repealing of policies? Allow me to be crazy and say that the reason why we there is no hope is because we’re not given something real to believe in.

I believe that there is a value in re-engineering the way we think and go about elections. I believe that more emphasis should be placed on the platforms and ideas put forth by candidates, instead of selecting leaders based on, literally, face value. I believe that there is room for the growth of a real political culture in the Philippines, that this will eventually ensure that we select the appropriate people for office. I believe that while there are many obstacles along the way, it is not yet too late to start. It took four centuries for the United States to get to where they are, and I think we have the capacity to do the same.