The countdown to the 2022 national election auspiciously began on May 9, Sunday, with the pealing of bells in Manila Cathedral and other major Catholic churches. The simultaneous tolling of the bells across the country marked exactly one year before the holding of the next national elections in the Philippines on May 9, 2022. It was a reminder to the sovereign people of their sacred duty to vote and to select the next president of our country. The bells were rung non-stop for 3 minutes to encourage qualified voters to exercise their right of suffrage.
The Catholic hierarchy has undertaken the initiative to rekindle peoples’ active participation in the forthcoming elections. The National Director of Caritas Philippines, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, of the Diocese of Kidapawan, Cotabato has issued the call: “Let’s awaken and enliven once more our love for the country. Register and vote. Make your voices heard. If you want to see change, elections are the democratic way to effect change.” The church appeal is in support of the efforts organized by the Eleksyon 2022 Koalisyon, a non-partisan and multisectoral alliance of various civic and religious groups to ensure the success of the next presidential election. We cannot overemphasize the critical importance of the next polls. After six years of the Duterte presidency, our people clamor for changes and reforms. Many claim that we have elected round pegs in the square holes. Some elected officials don’t fit the system and they only create chaos instead of order and stability. After their term of office, they merely succeed in digging us deeper into the pit.
Our country’s problems are serious and manifold. Assault on our territorial integrity by a foreign power. Social injustice. Economic inequities. Widespread poverty and unemployment. Inadequacy of the health-care system. Poor standard of education. Ravaging impact of the pandemic. The ills and woes that bedevil us will not go away by poking jokes and hurling curses at them and the opposition. Red-tagging the so-called enemies of the state will only promote discord. National politics becomes toxic and each side of the political divide hankers to destroy the other instead of focusing on their work. Unless the problems are addressed and resolved, we shall wake up and live day after day to confront them.
If we want our democracy to survive, we should all work to have clean and honest elections in 2022. We need presidential aspirants who will not talk trash and falsehoods. We want to hear the reassuring words from presidential hopefuls who can give us a message of hope, not despair; optimism, not cynicism; candor, not lie. We should subject every candidate to meticulous scrutiny and skepticism. We should be able to hold every aspiring politician to account and hold him answerable to his acts or misdeeds once he’s in office. Elections empower the people to get rid of or reject rapacious leaders who will debauch their hapless countrymen. There is a gulf between political promises and accomplishments, and voters should not be hoodwinked by charlatans who will promise anything just to get elected. Voters should think clearly and critically when making their choices. They should realize the severe consequences of their decisions. A president enjoys extensive power to change the course of history. Every voter should help shape the political process and improve the quality of political discourse in this country and upgrade the level of debate among the candidates. Candidates should have a global view of the issue and not tarry on the trees that make up the forest. We need to reboot or reset our political culture that will define to us the fundamental issues that need to be expounded and tackled during the campaign. We need a leader who can restore dignity to the office of the president. A president who will honor his words and whose public pronouncements can be relied upon by his people. Not one who speaks with gutter language unfit to be heard by minors watching the TV during the evening news.
The pealing of bells is symbolic. It’s a call to all patriotic Filipinos to go out and vote in the coming 2022 national elections. Voting is a privilege, which we must exercise with extreme caution; we should not take it for granted. Needless to state, our future, and our children’s, depend on it. Let’s vote responsibly and elect a new president who will look after our interest. Let’s not betray our people by casting our ballots in favor of one who approaches us with bravado and dishonest intentions. Nor should we sell our vote to the highest bidder who, if elected, shall use the perks of his office to amass more privilege, pelp and power. Otherwise, the church ringing will be a requiem, a dirge. It signals the end of our return to good governance. This is a time for great change. Let’s not squander this opportunity to escape from the cycle of vicious politics. Go out and vote wisely. Either we reverse the tide or we continue along the path to political perdition. As Blase J. Cupich had once said: “We are a democracy, and we get the leader we deserve because we elect them.”
1 comment
2022 will still be same as in the previous elections. we cast our votes but we are not parties in the election.
voting is done at the precincts but election is done during canvassing.