Will You Vote For Them?

Do/Did they deserve our votes?

       Admit it or not, we all have this rabid aversion to celebrities who are running for public office (including those who have been elected already). Initially, I was sturdily against their idea of making themselves a holder of either a local or national post. A lot of questions streamed into my mind then. Are they qualified? What can they contribute to our country? Are they in their right frame of mind? Can they speak in English?

           The constitution allows anybody to run for public office, as long as one is a Filipino citizen and is of legal age. This allows us to easily and conveniently throw our hat into the political ring. We raise an eyebrow every time we hear a celebrity announcing his or her political ambitions. I think we already have enough of them in the government. But since we are all in a free and democratic country (redundant?), we cannot prevent them from turning themselves into bona fide politicos if people will cast votes in their favor. Not even the constitution.

What happened?

         
        Celebrities are perceived to be not politically capable, but are capable of getting votes by capitalizing on their immense popularity. One of them even reached the highest possible position in the land, and another one nearly achieved the same feat if not for the alleged massive cheating during the time the latter ran for public office. It is a fallacy though, to make a sweeping statement that all celebrities are not politically capable. We know of artista-politicos who have produced a sound political track record. Hence, it is very unfair to brand all of them as incapable. You don’t want to be charged with discrimination, do you?

         My final take on this matter, is that any Filipino (artista or non-artista) who has the sincerest of intentions to help our countrymen and nation in general, should be given the chance to aim for his or her political ambition. However, being a politician is no easy matter. It is not a world of make believe unlike in a teleserye or movie. Politics is unshiftable reality. The onus rests on the voting public anyway. Will you vote for them or not?

Dolphy: "Madaling tumakbo, paano kung manalo?"

Postcript: I had the chance to attend a campaign sortie last 2010 at a stadium in Rizal. When reelectionist-senator B.R. came out, the crowd literally went wild, and he has not even spoken a word yet.