The Candidate of Your Choice
The Candidate of Your Choice
Fr. Shay Cullen
5 May 2016
What is it that drives voters, the common people, to cry out and vote
for the false messiah to be their president and leader? Some voters are
drawn away from more virtuous leadership and favor unrealistic fantastic
promises of the bombastic candidate.
Even if such a candidate promotes hatred, racism and violence and
approves and practices womanizing, insults religions and church leaders
and supports vigilante killings of any suspect without trial, they can
arouse a rabble of extremist followers. Can they be trusted to serve and
lead a nation?
In the United States and the Philippines, there are candidates that
share such positions and attitudes. They are not the ideal leaders of a
nation that aspires to be caring, compassionate and that respects the
rights and dignity of all.
Good honest Republicans in the USA are outraged and disavow the extreme
policies of Donald Trump, now the Republican Party presidential
candidate. He will likely run against the democratic candidate Hilary
Clinton.
He will ban Muslims from coming into the USA, and all illegal immigrants
will be deported. Thousands of Filipinos could be in jeopardy.
Trump has insulted women, mocked a disabled person in public and vows to
strike the enemies of America with overwhelming force if they don’t
agree to his negotiating positions. If elected president, he will tear
up every free trade treaty.
For Trump, it is America first and to hell with the rest of the world.
For him, corporate America and big business should rule America and the
world; not the regulatory agencies of government, not the UN. And yet he
has reached a popularity that boggles the mind and troubles the heart.
But it won’t happen. Most American voters are wiser, smarter and more
compassionate. They are good people and are generally non-racist,
tolerant, caring, compassionate and respect the views of other even if
they disagree. All North Americans are descendants of immigrants and so
the majority will reject extremist views and racist anti-immigration
policies when it comes to a national vote.
We hope it will be the same in the Philippines this 9 May 2016. The vast
majority of Filipinos are also good people: intelligent, compassionate,
caring, loving and self-sacrificing. They should vote in a responsible
manner looking for the candidate that has a positive history of respect
for human rights, concern and action for the abused children, compassion
for the poor and is a person of unblemished integrity, free from scandal
and of faithful family life.
Who among the candidates for president, vice president or for the senate
meets these basic criteria and are competent to lead and inspire a
nation of over 100 million people?
Is there anyone with a spiritual faith in the dignity of the human
person and a true respect for this beautiful but suffering country and
who has not enriched themselves with bulging bank accounts? A candidate
who can lift up the downtrodden who has a record of caring and action
for justice?
The candidates ought not have a history of corruption or advocating or
being linked to death squads anywhere where there have been summary
executions over the years. That is the path to power for these men of
violence and greed.
Those voters hurt and ignored and left desperately poor and hungry by
government will favor the vengeful threats of the gun-slinging
candidates. That’s why they lead in the polls.
Failure of government officials to serve the public gives the violent
extremists popularity. For example, to get a vehicle registration
document at the office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Region
3 takes months of waiting and inaction. Getting a document processed by
government takes months. Such lack of service can unfortunately appear
to some to be a bribe-seeking delay. To get a permit for a brothel can
take just a few days or more.
To get the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Provincial
Engineer of Zambales to act on the repair of a short 200 meters of road
to a children’s home would take years, if ever they would repair it.
Instead a Php 45 million road is being built with a private housing
project as the main beneficiary.
More dissatisfaction is aroused when government elites and officials are
part of the children and women abuse and escape justice by the decisions
of some corrupt judiciary.
They ignore the hardship and abuse of the trafficked and enslaved and
incarcerated women and children.
Responsible voting ought to be for the candidates who can be trusted to
have the integrity and strength to respect, enforce, serve and protect
the rights of every citizen with equality and fairness. Who meets this
basic criteria?
https://www.preda.org/
[email protected]
