Yesterday, I wrote about Nancy Binay and how a person with so little accomplishments could rise up among the top five of the Senatorial bets for the Philippines.
What does it take to be a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines?
Not much actually. All you need is to be a natural born citizen, at least thirty five years of age during the election, a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years, a registered voter, able to read and write and must have a pulse. That's all it takes.
Have you ever wondered why the Law demands so little? Why are mediocre candidates like Nancy Binay allowed to run and probably (inevitably) win? Why not have, as an additional qualification to the list, a PhD? There we go! To be elected to office in the Philippines, let's require a PhD. Surely, this will guarantee that only the brightest will be chosen as our leaders.
Of course, I'm just kidding.
The thought that only the most intelligent and accomplished people should be the leaders of this country sounds rational at first. But I'll let you in on a little secret; people AREN'T rational. What kind of leader one desires varies from person to person. It is impossible that everyone uses the same criteria to judge fitness for leadership. Let me give an example.
My ideal candidate is someone who has been educated in Economics and has ample experience in the private sector. He or she is free-thinker and a classical Liberal who is a staunch defender of free speech and religion. My ideal candidate, while an advocate for civil liberties, is a fiscal hawk who's main objective is to cut government waste and ineffective welfare programs that encourage the poor to be dependent in exchange for political loyalty. He or she would also be a federalist who believes in fulfilling the constitutional promise of decentralized government. My ideal candidate would also have to be a capitalist. He or she would also posses a strong moral character and is incorruptible. (Pure fucking fantasy)
Compare this mythical creature to the kind of candidate a poor fellow in the slums would believe in. Imagine a man, a man with dark brown skin from working in the hot sun all day. He's in chronic muscle pain and due to a habit of chain smoking and hard liquor, looks twice his age. Imagine him now pushing a heavy wooden cart filled with rusty scrap metal on top and three children and a baby riding in a compartment below. His wife looks just as old as he does but is pregnant with their fifth. They both live in a shanty on a riverbed that could be washed away at any second by a flash flood, with their bedridden great grandmother and three-legged dog. Put yourself in the shoes of any typical wretch infesting the God-forsaken slums of the inner city and ask yourself what kind of candidate you'd believe in.
Imagine my candidate, all eloquent and intelligent, dressed in a sharp suit, blonde haired and blue eyed, talking in both perfect English and deep Tagalog about nonsense like "fiscal sustainability", "foreign investment", "energy independence" and "free market". Now compare him to a candidate who is plain and nonthreatening, has the "common touch", can dance and sing (if only just barely), has a name related to a celebrity, and spouts off the odd word about "God" and "the poor" and also PROMISES TO GIVE YOU FREE STUFF if you elect him or her. If you were dirt poor and can barely scrape two pesos to buy half a piece of bread, who would you vote for? The stuck-up rich smartass who "can't possibly understand what you're going through" or the person who seems like a nice guy who just wants to give you a helping hand?
The point I'm trying to make is that different people seek different qualities for their leaders. These qualities you CANNOT legislate. You cannot add as an additional requirement of "must have a heart" or "must be a nice guy" because that would be undemocratic.
The Constitution, ironically made by people who were more educated than most of the population, understands that there are just some things that are impossible to take into consideration. The Constitution cannot mandate that only candidates like mine can run because what I want might not be what Juan de la Cruz from Villa Luz wants and vice versa. So the Constitution leaves it as open and as wide as it can within reason to allow the largest possible pool of candidates to flow into the arena, the idea being that the people themselves will decide what kind of candidate is best for the nation. The age, residency and literacy requirement is really only there as a minimum threshold of competence and to make sure we don't accidentally elect a Tarsier.
The perfect candidate cannot be legislated into existence. The spirit of democracy is that the people choose their leaders. Who am I to decide what is best for another? So open the gates then. From the broad mass of potential candidates, from the Nancy Binays to the celebritard actors, it is in this manner that the true WILL OF THE PEOPLE is made manifest and will decide what is best. This is how it works.
It's up to the people to fill the blanks and you know what? I'm proud of my country. I'm proud to be a Filipino. I am proud we have a candidate like Nancy Binay as a shoo-in for Senator. Why? Because we have been given a special gift; a gift called Democracy. We can proudly say that we are a truly free nation charting our own destiny. We have a system that allows the true spirit of the nation, it's want and desires, to be reflected and expressed in it's leaders. And that spirit is the spirit of mediocrity and incompetence, the true character of the people revealed. Very few nations on Earth can boast of a government that truly enjoys the full faith and confidence of its people. But here? We freely elect idiot actors, imbeciles, housewives and scumbags because we, like battered women, believe in our hearts that we can change them and if not, we can do better next time. Despite everything, we are no slaves to foreign masters but only to our fellow Filipinos. Our leaders may be assholes BUT they're OUR assholes. Isn't it beautiful in a way? We have the government we truly deserve. Everything is as it should be. The system works. This is what the people desire.
I believe it was Manuel L. Quezon who said, "I'd rather run like hell than be in a heaven run by Filipinos." ...I think?
God bless us everyone!
