No Such Thing

KEEPING SCORE SF's Mayor Jenny de Asis at Barangay Alegria

I HAVEN'T VOTED FOR MORE than a decade. The last politician I voted for was sent behind bars. At least, from my point of view, it was a setback, a total waste of vote, because they sent him to prison without any due process. They hastily locked him up to cover up the ineptitude of that prosecution panel, walking out even before the trial could come up with a decision. It was a setback because my vote was not given a chance to defend itself under those mug shots and the labeling of a plunderer. That was the last time I thought about voting someone for public office. That was the last time.

This year is no different. I intentionally did not re-register some months ago for almost the same reason. I simply don’t want to lay my hands on anything that smacks of repetition and grandstanding, like Philippine elections and all that. For one, I am actually losing faith in an electoral process since 2001; and two, I just don’t trust anyone anymore in that office. That sounds like a sweeping generalization in there, but I have my suspicion really that that statement speaks to a lot of Filipinos today.

We celebrated the 27^th year of the Edsa Revolution just recently, and by all means, it should be a very special moment for those who witnessed the peaceful takeover of the Filipino people from the shadow of that Marcos regime, but as it turned out, it was a far cry from the Edsa of old, lacking in spirit somehow, and the fire was no longer there. It was fighting its way through even on national TV, as the Oscars looked more historical and spectacular in its celebration and presentation. I hate to say this, but Edsa seemed lost amid those concerns plaguing the economy like the ones we suffered before the revolution took place.

I hope I am not alone in my passivity. They say if don’t exercise your voting power you are not at all giving democracy a chance to work against the evils of tyranny and oppression, that you are simply giving corruption a reason to stay in power longer than it should, sometimes staying there for good. But that doesn’t discount the fact that with or without my vote, tyranny, oppression and corruption are issues infesting in our political pond long before Edsa was born, until now, unfortunately. A sickening cycle perhaps that is still seeking some retribution from that overbearing dictatorship.     

I missed that Senate row between Cayetano and Enrile. Somebody told me that it simply was an argument unbecoming of a public official. But even if I missed the whole thing, I could probably feel a kind of betrayal if I did vote for Cayetano and Enrile, like I was just wasting my time when I did go to that precinct and actually voted for them. Not that I’m an idealist (sort of) when it comes to politics, but that piece of controversy should not be given a chance come election time. We have wasted so many resources since time immemorial, including this cliché, and we certainly cannot afford to waste another one by casting our hard-earned taxes on those officials with nothing but petty disputes on national TV.

Somehow I don’t feel anything even if I did not vote for more than a decade. I know that’s not the way it should be. That’s a sort of stance that puts dictatorship or corruption at an advantage. Not doing anything at all can lead to all sorts of misdemeanours and mismanagement. But I guess that’s the risk I’m willing to take. I know that any political quandary we’re experiencing right now, any malfeasance committed while on office, that I had nothing to do with it. I know it may sound so self-serving, egotistical to a fault, but I did not vote for that politico, in the first place, I did not put my trust on him through that ballot, and so theoretically, at least, I did not share any of his vices, any of his unravelling, and his own brand of “in aid of legislation”, much less the betrayal of that trust if indeed I voted for him.

I wouldn’t recommend this position though for all intends and purposes. I only went through this in much the same way as with a politician dealing with his constituents, that politics is just a matter of keeping a tight rein on that final score, that it was all a numbers game. And without me saying the obvious, that vote has shown little if at all none in giving representation to the things that probably needed change. Perhaps some of us can stomach a lot of garbage in their system by turning a blind eye to that same old politics, same old electioneering, and Jamby Madrigal, but if I am worth an iPad in exchange for a seat in the Senate, then my non-registration, non-committal bet as far as my vote goes is worth the gamble. I can actually buy that iPad without necessarily dealing my conscience to other people, and a politician at that. And although I wouldn’t recommend this posturing under any circumstances, somehow it is certainly worth the risk. 

I find it alarming and an affront that a lot of us have taken that long, gray line of passivity with our political system. The way I see it, for now at least, that there is a condoning brashness working within our voting system in that the more you vote the more chances of you getting a hand on it, for better or for worse, the latter being the most atrocious. Only time will tell before I go back to that precinct and vote, to remain oblivious or apolitical in this country is almost impossible, let alone survive without it. And I could not stop a politician from running for office by being lazy about a mere vote. I know there is no such thing.