Discerning Voters

On Tuesday, Feb. 09, the campaign period for president and other national officials will formally begin. Of course, our aspirants have long been campaigning already. But what matters now is that each of us who will cast our votes must be a discerning voter.

Being a discerning voter is an integral part of our citizenship. It is in the exercise of our right to suffrage that we act out our right to choose the people who would run our government. Government, following our fundamental principle of democracy, is established on consent of the governed-all of us. Thus, enshrined in our Constitution is the basic rule that public office is a public trust.

Indeed, as Aristotle wrote: "He who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of any state is said by us to be a citizen of that state..."

Pursuing an active role during the campaign is equally important with the act of voting itself. All of us, in whatever camp we choose to be, have a crucial role to play especially in the threshing out of the real issues for the future of our country.

On this note, it is critical that we have an open mind to public debate and a big heart for personal attacks. After all, election is like a basketball game where even in honest offense or defense, you could get hurt or hurt somebody since basketball is a contact sport. Only when each one gives his best that at the end we can high-five each other saying "nice game."

Now as candidates come to solicit our votes, let us challenge them on these three basic issues that I believe should define the programs of the next administration:

1. CORRUPTION - Here we need to stress that to steal from government is to steal from the poor. It takes simple math to see that we would not have any streetchildren, taong grasa, squatter areas, and abject poverty all over the country if only all public money were wisely spent for where they are needed most.

2. PEACE AND ORDER - Under our system of rule of law, only the government should have the monopoly of force. Hence, we have the armed forces and the national police. No administration should ever tolerate armed groups or militias. Otherwise, there's always going to be a Maguindanao massacre.

3. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - To this day, the structure of governance and development remains anchored on the long-discredited "trickle-down" philosophy. People must be the agents of their own advancement. Hence, we must face squarely the question of shifting to a federal system through a constitutional convention.