Earlier this week, the House of Representatives was convulsed by the Speakership question, leaving the fate of the country’s 2021 budget—which includes the budget for the Comelec’s preparations for the 2022 National and Local Elections—hanging in the balance. It was a teaching moment, especially for the approximately 4 million new people expected to join the ranks of the enfranchised.
It bears remembering always that elected officials are the people’s representatives to government—it’s right there in the job title: Representative. And as representatives of the people, Congressmen are reasonably expected to act in the best interests of the people; and no, not just of those who installed them in office through their votes, but in the best interests of everyone, both within and outside their respective legislative districts, regardless of political allegiance.
This notion of elected officials as public servants, working to advance the interests of the people rather than their own, is central to a republican government such as ours; and this is the lens through which responsible voters—people who exercise their right of suffrage in a principled way—must view the situation that unfolded right before their very eyes.
A responsible voter paying attention to the moves and counter-moves so meticulously detailed in the daily news would, therefore, be expected to ask: how was this struggle over who gets to be “leader,” in my best interest as a constituent? Better yet, ask: is it so important to be this titular leader that one would be justified in risking something as essential as the nation’s budget, just on the chance that someone else were to get the “honor”?
A responsible voter ought to find the answers to those questions far more interesting than any campaign slogan or promise. But those weren’t the questions being asked, were they? No. People have been misled—whether inadvertently or otherwise—into seeing all of this as just another episode of in-fighting; a contest between two individuals to see who has more influence and thus, more power. And so, people tend to be concerned only with who comes out on top. And sure, everyone loves a prizefight.
But a democracy isn’t supposed to be a prizefight. Proving to be better at political maneuvering isn’t a victory of the people, but a personal triumph. And to put service to the people on hold while that personal triumph is pursued, hardly seems to be what elected representatives are meant to be doing. Who the victor eventually turned out to be might matter a great deal personally to the individuals in the struggle, but as representatives of Filipinos, shouldn’t it have mattered more whether the interests of the sovereign people were being looked after? And once the dust fully settles from this, will the House emerge united in purpose, if not in politics, and therefore able to work well for the good of the people? Or will the in-fighting simply transform into some chronic malaise that would result in either less work being done or in too many corners being cut simply to get anything moving?
Responsible voters want to know.