In any game, political and otherwise, there are winners and there are losers.
That is the dialectics.
Here in Laguna Province, the recent midterm elections were as exciting and as challenging not only among candidates in various posts but within the ranks of the voters themselves as well, primarily because of their biases and prejudices notwithstanding their naivete about the real motivation of any election—seizure of power.
This power indeed emanates from the people (read: voters) but on the contrary, once elected, these public servants think that they are the powerful ones and would use this leverage for their own vested interests, selfish or not—usually unfair practices like unequal distribution of loots (e.g. jueteng payola where the people are left in equity while the bosses earn more that even equivalent projects sponsored by the numbers game are mostly inferior or substandard etc.).
After these elections, the people must act together to protect their rights especially in the promotion and advancement of these rights for a better living condition, economic and otherwise.
The people, in the local (towns, cities and municipalities) and in the regional (provincial or chartered cities) levels should be vocal in the articulation of their grievances, critical of their educated interpretation or impression of bad leadership and persistent in the fight for inclusivity in all aspects of the community.
We should expect genuine public service and not cosmetic governance from Sol Aragones—a hybrid of showbiz as light news and the entire quotidian as hard news as a binary orientation of ABS-CBN—as elected governor of the province; from ER Ejercito in his comeback mandate as mayor of Pagsanjan; from Angelica Jones as Provincial Board Member of the Third District; and from all the winning candidates originating from other fields of endeavors who were elected in various positions.
Meanwhile, the losing aspirants like Emilio Garcia as mayor of Bay; Anjo Yllana as vice-mayor of Calamba; Gem Castillo and Dan Fernandez as vice-governor and governor, respectively, Jericho Ejercito as vice-governor and Guadalupe Ejercito as provincial board member must muster more wisdom and genuine compassion for the poor and the marginalized voters or residents in the province.
It's not only the wide variety of knowledge that makes a successful politician but the political will to emancipate the oppressed and prompt the powerless that the real power lies in them at all costs.
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