Hope in an Election Year

I was thinking of an appropriate topic to start my blogging in 2010. I'm used to reading about New Year's resolutions, horoscopes (especially predictions based on the Chinese variety), and all the other articles that tackle our hopes for 2010. For one, I found the forecast of El Nino to be welcome considering what we went through in 2009, a La Nina year. Climate change may have indeed changed equations and lives but there's no reason to look forward to something not like Ondoy or Pepeng.

2010 is an election year and need I say that a lot of people, never mind their status in life or society, are pinning their hope for a bright future on whoever's going to become Philippine president after May. There are plenty of candidates to choose from and it seems that a few strong ones are much lesser evils compared to those in the previous elections. I am currently leaning towards Noynoy but am getting frustrated by how his campaign is going. I'm all for him citing his parents but therein lies his weakness considering that the informed person also knows other information contrary to the positive that is associated with Cory's administration. In my mind and in my heart I always counter this by saying that indeed, Noynoy is offering something the others don't - and that is hope. Hope that we can still change this country of ours. Hope that we can change our citizens from the apathetic people we have become (or "manhid" sounds better) given that many have given up and are trying to find ways to leave this country for better lives abroad. Indeed, we need such hope if we are to stave off the degeneration of our families as OFW culture (its negative impacts) takes over.

The other candidates do not inspire me. Villar claims (as mentioned in his annoying jingle) that he will end poverty when his campaign at this stage has already cost billions of pesos that I am sure he will spend the next 6 years (assuming he wins) recovering and significantly increasing, of course, at our expense. Gibo is intellectually gifted and may have promise but I don't believe he is his own man with so much baggage from the current administrations "sins." I even suspect that he is not the "real" admin candidate - Villar is. Don't even get me started on Gordon and the rest of the also rans. Sure Gordon is a good speaker and perhaps we should look into his resume, which includes his stints in Olongapo and Subic. But I dare say that I would like first to see him attack Villar the same way he attacks Noynoy. I also suspect him to be a Villar proxy. Running so that he can have time to do a demolition job against the front runner while not even saying a piece about C5 insertions and other (alleged) anomalies of his Senate colleague.

I will defer talking about the other candidates (VP, Senate and my choices and analyses for local governments) to future blogs. For now, I look at the presidential derby and hope - and maybe pray - that 2010 will indeed be a better year weather notwithstanding.