25/02/2022
People, not politicians. Servants, not kings.
By Kristian Karlo G. Henry (MrseCode)
If we wish to ensure that Democracy is present in our country, we must remind ourselves that a Democracy is about the People, and not about the Politicians.
The 2022 elections are growing near, and growing closer and closer, is the amount of ads that each candidate has in their arsenal. Marcos has his many social media loyalists and conspiracy theorists, Isko Moreno has his tours and constant appeal to be ‘the champion of the masses’, Lacson has his promise of security, Leni has her volunteers, and Leody has his ideology. As Filipinos, we like to think of them as sportsmen or superstars, battling it out to take the crown, but such mindset will simply doom us when faced with the reality of what our Democracy ought to be.
Democracy is derived from demos, the greek word for ‘people’, and krata, the greek word for ‘power’, hence the term ‘People Power’. Thousands of years of political evolution has brought us to a point of which our system is reliant upon the people who vote on their leaders. But, in the Philippines, this is not the case.
We became reliant on saviors and saints, kings and messiahs. We became obsessed with the idea of one man, being capable of creating such miracles, to save us from the misery that is our country. After all, that’s what presidents should do, correct?
This is our first problem with Philippine Democracy. We became so used to the Spanish King forcing its rule towards us and subjecting our rights to do whatever he wanted. We became docile to the American Presidents who infantilized our people, to be treated as children who knew nothing on how to know what was best in our country. We became quiet in the face of Japanese oppression, as it was futile to even fight against them. Who would blame us? After all, we would rather not care about our politics and just live our same lives, hoping for the better. But right now, we do not have our rights, we can now be free to do whatever we wish under the law, we now treat each other as equal Filipinos, and we now have a voice to stand up. Yet we don’t.
Because right now, we are used to being ignorant in the face of our Democracy.
This is not just about being ‘us versus them’, or that all BBM supporters are just a bunch of trolls. This idea of a flawed Democracy encompasses all of us. We have seen countless Leni Supporters who think that every BBM supporter is somehow stupid, or that Leni is here to fix our country.
We have seen from other leftists that Ka Leody will fix our economic system for the better, and will save our workers from the clutches of all Labor Problems. The reality, however, is not as black and white as people think it is. As frustrating as this reality might sound, there are a lot of intelligent BBM supporters. As tragic as it may be, Leni will not fix everything. And as hopeful, as we want ourselves to be, Leody will never be the one true answer in solving the labor crisis that we have in our country. Leni’s role is to just ensure that corruption is lowered in our country, while Leody’s role is to give a strong foundation for our workers.
These are the things that people must know, and the sad part is, the majority of people will still vote for the miracle candidate who promises everything for Filipinos. Ignorance breeds a flawed Democracy, and a flawed Democracy breeds Populism, and when that happens, it will only push further the divide and radicalization within our people.
This celebration of the People Power Revolution should be a reminder that we, as the people, are more powerful than we think. And with great power, comes the great responsibility that we must take for our country. This is the 2022 elections everyone, we only get once every 6 years to determine what our future will be. Let’s not waste in on another Populist who promises to make drugs disappear in 6 months again.
