The social media is currently being bombarded with resentment due to the on-going tabulations of the recent Philippine midterm elections. Most of the fuzz is caused by Nancy Binay being in one of the top spots in the senate race. Many of these individuals call those who vote for Binay as “bobotante” and stupid.
But let me ask you, “Have you ever tried asking one of these voters WHY they voted for Ms. Binay?”
It is quite unfair to call these people stupid or “bobo” just because they voted for Nancy Binay. I must admit, I didn’t vote for her because I don’t think she would be capable of creating laws that would improve this country. But to call these people idiots for just one act is just below the belt.
I believe that these people *although not all of them* also went through a discernment process on who to vote. They also thought of the question, “Who among these individuals can alleviate me from poverty?” It’s just that their experience constrains them from seeing various factors that are important in the selection of public officials. They are not like most of the people who are currently reading this right now who have access to education and information given by social media. Their discernment is constrained by what they hear on the radio and those vehicles with looping campaign jingles, the posters and TV ads they see, and what their peers have to say about the matter.
This is what democracy does. It hears the voices of the people. And for this matter it is the less-informed voices that are heard. And what do the well-informed citizens do? Criticize. Judge. Mock.
It is funny that these well-informed citizens are the most vocal in terms of nation-building, alleviating poverty, equality and all those other stuffs yet they are easy to judge those who are deprived.
Let me ask another question: “Do you really want to alleviate these people out of poverty? Are you just vocal about equality to satisfy that “charitable” nature in you but in reality *and most of you may not know it* you are afraid of losing your status of being in the higher class than them?”
These well-informed people pass on the blame to the less-informed for they do not want to assume responsibility for the things that are happening in this country. I will always remember what my mother would tell me when my younger sister would do a certain mistake in my presence. “Ikaw ang mas but-an. (You are the one who is more mature.)”. It is the responsibility of those who are more informed to reach out to those who have less. But it’s easier to blame them because the responsibility is heavy (Just like me saying “Siya man ang nagbuhat ana (She *my sister* was the one who did that.)”
And also, going back to the question I posed, part of us wants them to be just in that place. Knowledge gives us power and power can be intoxicating. It tempts us to keep this power only to ourselves. Admit it, it feels good to be better than others. But is it for the best?
Yes. I am disappointed with the results of the election (in the senatorial level). But this does not give me the right to ridicule those who voted for the candidates who I think don’t deserve the seat. They too are citizens of this country. They too deserve to be respected and be heard.
