WHY DO you think our country is in its current position where many elected public officials are neither equipped to govern nor qualified to legislate?
Some of you would probably cite our collective failure to educate the Filipino voters. Others would blame it on propensity of those in power to perpetuate a culture of patronage so that as majority of our countrymen remains poor and uneducated, they will continue to beg for scraps and dole-outs.
Last Monday night, I was watching another engaging and insightful episode on the podcast “Usapang ED” hosted by Atty. Joseph Noel M. Estrada, one of the country’s renowned education lawyers, and Ms. Doris Fernandez-Ferrer, the executive director of the Private Educational Assistance Committee.
During the discussion I raised a question whether the qualifications for running for public office—specifically for positions in the Senate and the House of Representatives—are shockingly basic compared to the qualifications and requirements for even the most entry-level jobs in other sectors.
According to the 1987 Constitution, to become a senator in the Philippines, a candidate must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, at least 35 years old on the day of the election, able to read and write, a registered voter, and a resident of the Philippines for at least two years preceding the election.
For members of the House of Representatives, the requirements are even more lenient: a person must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, at least 25 years old on election day, able to read and write, a registered voter in their district (except for party-list representatives), and a resident of the country for at least one year preceding the election.
While the intent of the framers of our Constitution was clear and that is to foster a more democratic system where voters are given a wide array of choices that are not restricted by other qualifications such as educational attainment and relevant job experience, I believe that the current set of requirements has, to a large extent, contributed to a political system where wealth and popularity, not merit or competence, often determine who gets elected.
It is not surprising why many of us find it hard to understand this: if many job openings, even for positions that pay the minimum wage, require applicants to possess specific skills, education, and work experience, why then, are individuals who will have the power to enact laws, manage budgets, and shape national policy not held to a similar standard? As it is, the lack of rigorous requirements for political office opens the door for candidates who are driven more by financial resources and personal popularity than by the expertise necessary to serve effectively.
Sadly, this stark reality in the country today where wealth, popularity and family connections are often the determining factors in elections is something we have to accept and even endure unless we are able to change the provisions of our Constitution.
In the meantime, let us focus on voter education. Why? Because the people who have the ultimate power to determine the leaders who should govern them and give them long-term solutions and multi-dimensional programs to improve their lives, are the very same people who make the wrong choices every election cycle. Educating the Filipino voters does not start on the day they vote for the first time; it starts on the day and continues every single day that they make choices. It begins right at home, and continues in the school and the larger community. If we are able to develop critical thinking among all learners and educate every Filipino voter, only the most qualified will be elected into power. Not even the basic P500 or the lucrative P5K “good will fee” per voter will be able to sway an informed choice.
Make no mistake, and do not get offended when we are told that we deserve the kind of government that we have now. As one TV ad aptly puts it, we are the product of the choices we make.
