National elections on May 10, 2010 is fast approaching. Candidates are growing frantic, more so with Presidentiables Noynoy Aquino and Manny Villar being neck and neck in surveys. Most likely they will have less sleep if not sleepless, thinking, and doing the best they can to turn opinions in their favor. All PR, advertising, political and financial machinery are being utilized to win voters for the one stake each candidate has filed for- position of power and influence- or public service as they humbly claim.
But I do not care. I am not voting this election. I never did. We had a dozen elections already and we have not moved forward. Simply, we have not learned our lessons and we keep repeating the same process that does not guarantee us radical change. Officials and bureaucrats are willing victims of the system so as to protect if not enrich their business and influence, in the guise of serving the people. As one article put it, P35,000 monthly salary will not suffice for a Senator alone, so where else do they get the rest for their official operations? It was Einstein who said doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result is insanity. Filipinos in that sense are insane, hoping that with the change of leadership their lives will also somehow change. But it's sheer baloney repeated every three years!
I derive my hope not from public officials, though, but from economic opportunities that abound for those who strive to improve their lot. In tiger economies like Singapore, Japan and Taiwan, its the politicians/officials that ensure economic growth is protected with nationalist incentives. The economic benefits cascade to the people resulting to less hunger and crime.
My personal contribution for this country to take off is not my vote. It is my sales work, providing sustainability of jobs to the company I work for. It is my small business, creating job for the crews that work under me. After all, it's not the government that feeds my family. It's still me, regardless of whoever wins this election. William Ernest Henley aptly captured it when he said:
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
