Democracy & Elections

THIS week’s membership meeting promises to be another insightful and relevant gathering, with a guest of honor and speaker who will timely discuss the on-going preparations for the upcoming mid-term elections. In less than 100 days, the country will be conducting the constitutionally-required elections scheduled every three years, which is set in the second Monday of May.

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the body mandated to oversee and conduct the electoral process in the country, is once again tasked to ensure the successful holding of the elections. The current Chairman of the Commission, himself an eminent election law practitioner, has his job cut out for him.

The WMM, with guest speaker Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia, will give Manila Rotarians to hear firsthand whether the COMELEC is indeed prepared to successfully hold the May 12 elections.

As a constitutional democracy, the selection of our leaders is vested upon the citizenry. Through a process that must be both credible and peaceful, the sovereign will of the people must prevail and accordingly respected and reflected in the final outcome. This is the mandate of the COMELEC – “to give life and meaning to the basic principle that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”

As an independent constitutional body (created by a 1940 amendment to the 1935 constitution), the COMELEC is expected to perform its mandate with impartiality and competence. The credibility of the electoral process, and the acceptability of its results, depend on the COMELEC’s doing a good job.

Our country’s electorate has been choosing leaders for decades; and with this comes questions that must be candidly answered. Have we been choosing the right ones? Do we have, to begin with, truly qualified candidates to begin with? Has the voting populace been able, over the years, to actually and judiciously determine and choose the best qualified persons to occupy key positions in our government? Do we have an electorate that is able to discern and objectively vote for people who have the needed background and skill, as well as the real desire to pursue and protect the interest of the nation?

When will we ever give priority to voters’ education? Is there a serious effort to truly empower our voting public to make wise decisions for the country? When will we adopt a systemwide re-examination and institute the much needed reforms? When do we finally address the pestering issue of political dynasty? How about the party-list system? Is it time to re-examine its merits?

Elections in the Philippines must not just be about giving each voter the opportunity to fill-out a ballot, nor should it be simply about counting the votes cast. We need to dig deeper and consider a major policy shift. Indeed, we must adopt reforms to make our democracy truly work for our country. Truly, there is so much to be done.