Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Body politic; I love that term. I can almost hear my political science professor in college explaining concepts and theories in his deep baritone voice, and mesmerizing us in how people gather together and become one in a "body politic". The most basic and simple of all the things I've learned in the social sciences, yet it can be expounded and applied to real-life situations of national or local importance. That said, I don't want to rant and ramble about my love for the social sciences(which I can do all day long), but just gather my thoughts and jabber about the upcoming #elections. Here goes...
Less than three weeks to go before the national election happens in the Philippines. It's really a big deal for us. In fact, it's gigantic. With the current situation that we are all in, the leader we will choose will be instrumental in the survival of the country - I'm not exaggerating when I say this.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
This is not an ordinary election, and I say this with a heavy heart, because Filipinos have been known to vacillate in choice of candidates from the left to the right of the political spectrum. I don't believe that it is because of the adherence to a certain political line, although I know that there are strong advocates and supporters of the different causes, which to a certain extent, influences the elections, but the masses.
With 107 million in population and an archipelago that encourages division, the language barriers, different sub-cultures, among others, there are many reasons to look out for ourselves and see how we can benefit from this elections. And, I'm not only talking of the vote-buying, but who will get into the portfolio under the bureaucracy, who gets the big contracts, which province will benefit, and so on.
Image by Septimiu Balica from Pixabay
Going back to the masses, I don't know how far we have moved forward, but there was a time that the common people were grossly unaware of what the "colors" really mean. Dilawan is a Liberal Party supporter, pulahan occupy the left of center political ideologies, and now, rosas is the dominant color of the elections. The red, blue, and green doesn't really stand out to me because there doesn't seem to be "ownership" of the colors used in the current campaign season, while the overwhelming tide of pink really stands out.
Pundits and scholars often talk about the elections, comedians turn it into satire, while a few really understand what happens in the background. The wheeling and dealing among different camps, the influence of foreign powers, and the unprecedented influence and effect of social media, fake news, and disinformation. I mean, who really fact-checks the posts made by their "idol" candidate? Or looks at their political agenda in the deeper sense of the word.
There are so many directions that this soliloquy can go and so many aspects of politika that I haven't mentioned yet, but I don't want to go there just yet. Maybe in another blog post.
To end, I am still confused by how crazy politics can be here in our country, but at the same time, I am also hopeful that the body politic have leveled up and grown into a more mature societal institution that it was meant to be.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts on this matter. I feel better and mind is more focused just thinking about this. It's just a light commentary on Philippine elections, which I hope sheds a light on my thought process and how I view politics in general.
Love and peace.
