The campaign kickoffs are over and the countdown to election day has begun. With 82 days to go, let’s ask ourselves, how well do we really know our candidates? And what are the chances we’ll get to know them enough to make the best choice possible on May 12?
Another big occasion marked the past week: Valentine’s Day.
Forgive my elections-obsessed brain but it’s hard for me to disentangle the affairs of the heart from the affairs of voters.
Before we choose to go out on a date with someone, before we give them the privilege of spending V-Day with us, we do a lot of research on them, or at least we should.
We scour their Facebook profiles for red flags. Does he look like he has friends? Do we like their hobbies? Can we stomach their political leanings? Is she giving serial killer vibes?
Conversely, if we’re looking to attract someone decent, we spend a lot of time finessing our dating app profiles. We ask our friends for a second eye. We meticulously choose which photos to display, what descriptions to use.
And when the fateful day arrives, when we are to meet them for a date to see how we vibe, how would we feel if they don’t show up, if they ghost us?
I think that if we put as much attention on our electoral candidates, and hold them up to the same standards as the people we date, the country would be a better place.
Case in point: Rappler is getting a lot of invitations to electoral fora and debates.
We started our own election fora relatively early, with an election kapihan in Manila and Marikina in late January and early February, respectively. GMA Network held a senatorial debate on February 1, which we wrote about. More organizations are about to hold their own events.
But who is showing up in these events? At GMA’s debate, only one of the “winnable” candidates, Senator Ronald dela Rosa, showed up along with several alternative candidates.
At our Manila kapihan, the two major mayoral bets, Isko Moreno and Honey Lacuna, declined to attend. In Marikina, district representative and wife of the incumbent mayor, Maan Teodoro, didn’t show up either, despite our repeated invitations.
This seems to follow a disturbing trend, one started by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself who showed up to zero presidential debates in 2022.
Like him, the majority of “winnable” senatorial candidates, who happen to belong to his anointed senatorial slate, have not been joining debates and fora either.
Instead, like him, they have so far confined themselves to events organized by their alliance, events where the program is tailor fit to their needs, is sanitized of dissent or critical questions, and protects them from interfacing with ordinary citizens outside of their die-hard base.
The Commission on Elections mulling requiring candidates to attend debates shows how important these fora are, and how bad the situation has become.
Some candidates are perfectly fine staying mum on their platforms, avoiding questions that pierce their motherhood statements, and letting their “ayuda” do the talking.
What to do?
The ugly truth is that the status quo is the way it is because we allow it.
Voters, citizens, have more power than we think we do, but we do not wield that power enough.
It should not be okay that a candidate is ghosting us. It should not be okay that a candidate is not being transparent about their platforms, their background, their track record. It should not be okay that a candidate refuses to go out there and put themselves in the spotlight, for voters’ sake.
This “playing it safe” strategy is benefiting candidates, but killing democracy. It’s robbing voters of information they need to make a clear decision. It’s protecting candidates, at the expense of communities who direly need good governance.
This is the time to shame candidates for not showing up. This is the time to go on social media or write to your candidates to say you expect them at this forum or debate. This is the time to make your vote for a candidate contingent on what information they’ve provided to the public about their candidacy.
If you won’t go out with someone you know so little about, would you vote for a candidate who’s never engaged with citizens in a meaningful and transparent way?
Let the candidates who don’t bother to show up for you feel the sting of rejection.
Speaking of profiles, Rappler’s election site has a database of profile pages for senatorial candidates and party-list nominees.
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– Rappler.com
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