An Introspection of the Current for the Philipppine May 2010 Election

The Philippines particularly the Filipino people is once again in their limelight.  This is so as such country particularly its people are once again to exercise their rights to choose their leaders from the top-most layer which is the president up to the lowest which is comprised of municipal councilors.  And as it is customary in Philippine politics, voters are once again lined up with so many options which are seen on the number of candidates vying for a certain public position.  For some, this is good as the democratic exercise of the right to suffrage is at its best.  But for some, it is a manifestation of how greedy some of our leaders are for power, for money and for influence.  Well, no matter what one says, the presence of many candidates vying for different position is good as the electorate is given the chance to choose the best to be their leaders.

One of the notable traditions in every political exercise is the survey and it is practice in almost all parts of the world.  But the same as other things, political surveys are also said to have two sides.  One is the good and the other is bad.  One good thing in the presence of political surveys is that it allows candidates to know their standing in an election thereby allowing them to decide whether to pursue their candidacy or not.  On the other side, political survey is argued not to reflect the real sentiment of the electorate.  Famous survey companies such as Pulse Asia and SWS (Social Weather Stations) are the front-runners in terms of research studies and professional polling.

For me, this is true as whenever a political survey is conducted only a thousand or tens of thousands are asked to participate in such undertaking.  For this, it can be said that political surveys do not represent the real sentiments of the general electorate.  This may seem to have no effect on us – the general electorate but looking critically at it, it affects us.  This is so as the result of the surveys can condition our minds as to which among the candidates we are to elect and that is called trending.

Trending as a result of the political surveys is bad.  This is so as most Filipinos do not have the will to vote for what they believe will run the government efficiently and free from the rumors of corruption.  This is evidenced in vote-buying which is still rampant in our country though some say that Filipinos are matured electorates.