Will they serve or be served?

Batas Mauricio

NOW that politicians of all colors, sizes, and shapes have started filing their certificates of candidacy for some 18,000 or so positions across the country, including the presidency, vice presidency, Senate and the House of Representatives, which are up for grabs in 2016 elections, it is time to assess each one of them and find out if they are going to serve or be served.

There will be many yardsticks by which this assessment of candidates can be done, but let me focus on just three things. The first revolves around the spirituality of the candidates. Do they have the Spirit of God in them? Do they really love the Lord our God with all their hearts, souls, minds, and spirit?

Do they love their fellow Filipinos as they love themselves? A candidate who does not truly love God cannot be expected to obey His commands, particularly those written in the Bible. This candidate should be expected to steal, cheat, and lie (with apologies to the Philippine Military Academy).

Then, a candidate who cannot love his countrymen as he loves himself is not expected to work for the common good of all others, focused as he will be (or as he had always been) only on his own interests and the interests of his family. This is the reason why we have so many political dynasties in this country.

The second yardstick is this: is the candidate with ability and trustworthiness, particularly in relation to the position he is aspiring for? Has he pursued and then completed projects that would benefit the poor and the marginalized? And then, does he hate dishonest gain?

Hating dishonest gain means refusing bribes, or the plunder of government money. Is the candidate known for accepting government money, in whatever guise or form, in exchange for kowtowing to the desires of the powers-that-be? If the answer is no, this is a good candidate, not likely to steal. If the answer is yes, expect him to steal some more.

Agreeing, and then subsequently discharging his duties and responsibilities as a virtual slave of the people—not as masters of his constituents—is my third yardstick. Too often, many candidates start their quest for public office by projecting an image of an official willing to serve.

Yet, once they are elected, these candidates lose no time in making everybody aware that they are the masters of the people who elected them. Thus, we see them weaving in and out of traffic, aided by policemen, not wanting to wait in line. We see them unavailable to their constituents, even if those constituents are to consult them on a matter of life and death.

Unless and until Filipinos start voting according to these three yardsticks we have laid down here, the political exercise to elect in 2016 our new set of officers would be another useless enterprise, a waste of money, and an expensive moro-moro which will only serve to push back all of us all the more towards perdition.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com