By the time this sees print, we should be on the second day of the period for filing certificates of candidacy for the 2019 midterm elections. The time to think about who you’re voting for is running out fast. Unfortunately, that decision—perhaps one of the most important you will ever face—isn’t easy to make, especially with so much collateral noise in the air. This makes it important for voters to take the time now to identify those issues that will frame the elections for them. And because elections are won by the greatest number of votes, it is equally important that individual voters are able to rally others to their causes; to reach out to the undecided and convince them that some things ought to be ignored, while others should be made an #electionissue.
Make traffic an #electionissue. For people relying on wages, daily traffic can mean they get to work late and likely lose some of their pay because of it. People who drive jeepneys and taxis have to drive longer hours just to break even; in all likelihood, corners are cut in maintaining these transport utility vehicles, making them every day more unfit to ply the roads—unsafe for both the riding public and the environment. Think about it: Congress recently passed a telecommuting law. The principal author of the bill is reported to have said that the measure was timely in light of the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila. That’s great, but only for those whose work can actually be done from home. Traffic, however, cuts across all demographics and, if anything, those who can benefit from telecommuting probably work better paying jobs than those for whom that solution simply doesn’t apply. So why aren’t we talking about traffic as an election issue?
Why is the national conversation—such as it is—about traffic almost exclusively revolving around pie-in-the-sky solutions that have no hope of impacting our lives right now, when the problem they are supposed to solve is most acute? Why aren’t our elected officials putting systematic and sustainable solutions on the table? Why are we being asked to accept nice-sounding solutions that, to be honest, do little more than shunt the real issues to the side? The fault lies not only in our superstars, but also in ourselves that we are only crawling through the streets. Make traffic an #electionissue and demand that whoever wants our vote ought to show us a way out of this mess, rather than just preening and reminding us that they are good-looking, wealthy or well-connected.
Traffic is just one #electionissue. There are many things to talk about before we head to the polling places in 2019. Some issues will be national in scope, properly addressed to candidates for senator or party-list representative. But others—most—will be closer to home, which we can take up with local candidates. The point is that there is no shortage of things we can take candidates to task for. Do not fall victim to the thinking that says only one thing is to blame for all our ills, or that solving this one issue will solve everything.
Neither should you be misled by people who tell you to ignore very real concerns and instead insist that you join them in picking at the scabs of old and discredited grievances—while ironically refusing to accept any answer that doesn’t validate their preconceived notions—which, upon even the most cursory inspection, are very easily revealed to be only about personalities rather than actual issues.
For as long as I can remember, Philippine politics have been like that—personalities always taking center stage, regardless of how the spinmasters try to convince us otherwise. This time, let’s do it differently; this time, let’s make the 2019 elections about real issues for once.
So what’s your #electionissue?