Negative Nancy

I've gone over my blog and discovered two things; that this blog technically isn't a journal and that I've been writing about video games too much. So I'd like to talk about politicians and qualifications. Let me begin the first part by talking about a person named Nancy Binay.

Nancy Binay is one of the many candidates running for the Senate. She's also the daughter of current Vice President, former Mayor if Makati City and "trapo", (traditional politician in a negative sense)  Jejomar Binay.

Her credentials are unspectacular to put it kindly. She has no experience in the government service and politics whatsoever. I'm sorry but "personal assistant" to your Mayor father doesn't count as government experience. As far as I can tell she's had no experience in the professional world either and spent a good part of her life as a housewife tending to her family. According to an interview, her name was placed on a list of candidates without her consent. When "they", and when I say "they" I mean the elite power-brokers, didn't remove her name when she asked them to, she just simply decided to roll with it.

So here we have a plain, unremarkable woman who's only achievement was being the daughter of a rich big shot politician, running for the high position of Senator of the Philippines on the first go and she didn't even decide herself to do it. Does something seem off to you?

Now, I don't mean to insult Nancy Binay. I don't know her on a personal level and I'm not one to judge how a person lives his or her life. I'm just stating facts. I'm not trying to be nasty but this is the position of Senator we're talking about. Yeah, it's kind of important don't you think?

When I think of all the possible people who could be a Senator of the Philippines, my humble opinion is that Nancy Binay may not be the best person for the job so sue me.

So why am I talking about this? Well, this post is meant to be a prelude to the one tomorrow where I'll expound a little on the concepts of politicians and merit but for now consider this:

The depressing (though not surprising) thing of it all is that despite Nancy's credentials, or severe lack thereof, she managed to get into the number fifteen spot on the list of senatorial candidates. What does that mean? It means that she got on the top fifteen by her name alone. It means that she's that close to getting an on the list of the next twelve Senators. It means that for the voters, merit is unimportant. It means that we are all brand names now. It means that despite the hooting and hollering, the people want political dynasties.

All according to plan.