My Criteria for Voting

DISCLAIMER: This is my personal criteria and everything I state herein are based from my personal observations.

With the Philippine presidential elections approaching, and the way the campaigns have been carried out, I think it really shows that the Filipino people still has a long way to go to reach voter maturity.

I hope my post will help enlighten people of their true power as a citizen and realize how important their right to exercise the sacred act of voting. Election date is the time when we get to wield true power as a citizen. We are given power to choose the leaders who will captain our country as a nation for 6 years.

Another thing I want to say before going over each candidates is that each of us had been gifted with a brain and the ability to discern, and that's why the constitution is letting every Filipino of voting age to have our voices heard without encumbrance from anyone else.

The way I see things going right now is that we are influenced by media, social media, by friends, by relatives, by spouses, by neighbors, by our financial status, by our bosses maybe. No one should be able to give us influence on who we'd like to vote because as I've said we are our own self. We can think for ourselves and we can choose for ourselves. If the constitution knows you can be influenced then I have no doubt you won't be allowed to vote.

For me, being a being of totally in control of who I want to lead our country I would go for motivation of the candidates, primarily. I look at the things that made them want to lead the country and what is their drive to run for the highest position. Most likely the candidates have a certain charisma, accomplishments, credentials, but why are they in it?

Without further ado here are my honest assessment of why I think these candidates are running for the highest office as per my observations based from research and news I've heard.

FERDINAND MARCOS JR. or BBM

Given the history of the Marcos family being exiled and ousted during the EDSA revolution, and some of the money/assets allegedly said they amassed were frozen or confiscated by the PCGG. They also have a lot of cases pending currently or like the case of Imelda Marcos was really convicted.

From this alone I see that BBM ascending back to Malacanang will nullify all those cases and most likely get a legal pass to unfreeze those frozen money. There is also that estate tax case that will expire if BIR fails to give a written notice in a span of five years.

So if BBM wins he gets to be in power for six years and he can appoint a commissioner that will definitely not write the family a notice to pay that estate tax, and the estate tax case is goners. Another motivation I see is that all pending cases will just be dropped. In the case of Imelda's conviction, being president, BBM will definitely have the absolute power to grant a presidential pardon to his mom, which of course can be expected.

Then lastly, I see that if BBM wins it will kind of vindicate the Marcos family of all wrongdoings. It is obvious to say that for the people to put them back in power means the people believe they did nothing wrong.

To conclude my assessment of BBM running for office, the Marcos family have a lot to gain: money, absolution and clearing all their cases. I am not sure if the Philippines will benefit from this scenario but for sure the family will.

LENI ROBREDO

For me, Leni's motivation is that she is aware of the dangers of what a Marcos presidency's effect on the country. She knows that it is not good economically and constitutionally. I think I get her statement that she's running in order to oppose BBM to become president. As I've said earlier, all cases will make a 360 turn in favor of the Marcoses and all frozen assets gets to be unfrozen. Being the only candidate of the opposition to have a shot of beating BBM, she is motivated really by avoiding a constitutional crisis. I think she was duty bound to give her all to save the Philippines from a disaster.

What do I mean by constitutional crisis? BBM has not filed taxes as per the news which was used as a disqualification case against him. Imagine our president has not filed income taxes, and if people won't file their ITRs, it is going to be utter chaos financially for the country. How can the BIR enforce people to pay taxes when the president himself has been labeled an evader himself?

BBM supporters claim that taxes had been automatically deducted from his salary as a government official but it is just that he did not file it. The non-filing was only applicable for his being an employee, what about their other income? Are they not renting out properties? Do they not have shares of stocks that had capital gains? So that's the gist of the problem with BBM's tax woes.

I just need to point this out too. People don't realize that we are required to submit our income tax returns because we could earn other income not just from the company we are employed in. Let's say I am an employee but I have a business that earns me more than I am making from my employer. If I don't file, I only paid taxes from the company I worked for because the company I am working for is obliged to auto deduct my taxes due the government.
However for my business if I don't file that means I have not filed my ITR means I have not paid my taxes as a business operator. Let's say I rent out 5 apartments and each apartment earns me 50k php a month, so multiply by 5 that means I get 250,000 php a month, and I am not paying taxes for it. Get my drift now?

Back to Leni, another motivation I see from her is that she has been involved in volunteer works since graduating from college and law. She has I think a true desire to serve as evidenced by being a PAO lawyer and then doing volunteer works. What I also see on Robredo is that her SALN stands at 11.9 million. That's really modestly low for a government official whose husband had been mayor for a very long time. That's just probably the value of the property she owns. Other leaders cannot openly give their SALNs. Leni as you can see is very transparent. For me, motivation is to serve. For me, this is a benefit for the country.

PING LACSON

Ping Lacson is a man of action. Being a decorated police general before wetting his feet on politics will be a good indication he'll make a good leader. I remember Ping was able to give the police a positive image when he was the chief brass of the PNP, and that's no mean feat. Most of the time we hear police image as negative, and Ping did truly put order on the police ranks when he was chief honcho of the PNP.

I don't see much motivation for him, maybe it's ambition to have the honor of being president or could be just he knows he can make a difference and reform the present political system. If he becomes president I think he would be very much keen on peace and order. For sure you can expect him to discipline the police ranks again.

Also during his term as senator he really specified that he doesn't like to receive his allocation of pork barrels. That means Ping is clean when it comes to paying back favors. If he doesn't have a need for pork barrel, it means he doesn't need to have funds to allocate (and dis-allocate) for projects for "friends." A Ping's presidency I see on all things considered, a benefit for the country.

ISKO MORENO DOMAGOSO

As the campaign is getting more intense and heated, Yorme seems to be having a lot of media noise. I'm baffled by Yorme actually. He was able to make Manila decent again. His accomplishments would have speak volumes on his campaign and yet he is pursuing the mudslinging route. I figured him to be a progressive thinker at first but his behavior on the last legs of the campaign seems to be that he is running to be a candidate just to take votes away from non-BBM supporters.

At first I noticed he was noisy about Marcos taxes, but then his vitriol against Leni is more noticeable (if my observations are right) as election day comes closer. It seems like also he is not truly serious to win the campaign.

Why I say he's not serious? Well, if I was him and having accomplished so much on the city I just need to use my charisma and my accomplishments non-stop knowing that the leading candidate is mum and had been alleged to have no accomplishments. I would just prattle on how I made Manila a premier city.

Every day I would be having a presscon on how I will apply to the nation what I did to Manila City. But, alas, no. I think Isko did it too late. He is already branded as an attack dog, which I would consider 50-50 true based on what he has displayed. For me, his motivation is to be the #2 candidate. He has no intention of winning. If Isko wins, which I am not expecting, will be of course a benefit for the country if he is going to go back to his progressive thinker self.

KA LEODY

I guess I don't have to know every accomplishment of Ka Leody. He is a labor leader so it's obvious he is running to make reforms for the labor sector. He wants to help the plight of our laborers. What I like about him is he is not radical like usual union leaders. Numerous UK leaders were from the Labor Party. Since a president can only serve for 6 years, then reforming the labor sector is already a tall order. I won't mind if Ka Leody wins. It will be a bit hard for employers for six years but as you can see all progressive countries have high labor costs except China, but we know China is a different model because of their population, which is numbering in billions. So reforming our labor sector could be good for the country in the long run.

MANNY PACQUIAO

Legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao had been everything he had aspired for, a champion boxer, a billionaire, a PBA player, and a senator of the Republic of the Philippines. He is now aspiring to be the people's champ on election day. Not a bad ambition. His campaign is for the poor. I am sure he will champion the poor as we all know how he wriggled his way out of poverty. I believe him when he says he wants to help the poor to stop being poor.

My only gripe with Manny is that his advisers are too biblically-charged with their approach to things. Everything must be in accordance with the Bible. It may sound morally right but as we know we can quote two quotes from the Bible on the same topic and we could have different meanings.

Manny got into trouble way back like when he voiced out something from the Bible about homosexuality, and stood by it, because for him it is what he believes to be the moral high ground. But then reality check, it is not in the constitution forbidding people to express homosexuality. I think this is not going to work for Pacquiao and the people if he continue with this approach to managing the country.

Other factors I'm looking at are the people supporting the candidates. BBM have people that have been convicted of graft and corruption behind him. Most politicos from established political dynasties are also pro-BBM. I guess these politicos have more to lose if BBM lose. We all know somehow these politicos who hands their mayoral and congressional seats to relatives when they outgrew their terms have nothing been but detrimental to progress.

Vico Sotto when he sat down as Mayor of Pasig, a fiefdom of the family of the mayor who preceded Vico, reforms where instantly instituted. All the wrongdoings of the previous city administration were corrected and now most people are wanting to move to Pasig.

Vico's first term and having achieved so much is not really phenomenal because that is what really is meant to happen if the leader is thinking of the welfare of the people. Somehow most mayors who are from political dynasties suddenly are closely watched because Vico being a first-termer mayor can accomplish so much, why not them who had been in office for so long.

Leni's supporters are a mix though. She does have Binay, although not convicted, but still people don't like his brand of politics. De Lima is 50-50. New developments on her case are now pointing she was set up. Other than these two controversial figures, most supporters of Leni are artists, business owners, students and the Catholic Church.

They say Joma Sison and the CPP is supporting her candidacy. Have you heard President Rodrigo say he was a socialist? I'm not buying this news though because if China is supporting Duterte, that is a communist country supporting the outgoing president. So I'm really guessing this is normal political mudslinging.

We are also hearing now of mass defections from the Isko camp to Leni's camp. Isko's support really has not much base outside of Manila. Then another bad thing they say about Isko is that he is being handled by Banayo, the campaign manager of Pres. Duterte during his presidential bid. We also see now Mocha going to Isko's camp. Mocha was the primary attack dog for Leni when Pres. Duterte sat down as president. My only view here is that Mocha's support to Isko is to have people disassociate her from BBM.

My third criteria is accomplishment.

For me, if you had been a senator or congressman, you should at least have been a principal author of at least one law. Sure co-authorships are nice but being principal author would really mean that as senator you been hard at work to have a law passed all by yourself. Remember Erap authoring the Philippine Carabao law (not sure of what it's full label)? At least when people think of Erap as a senator he is remembered for the law he passed.

Then as Mayor or Governor, we'll at least your local constituents all have nothing but praises for you. Before a mayor or governor can achieve a city-wide or province-wide love from the masses, always, always good projects were done and that the city or province progressed because of their able leadership.

Or probably the candidate had been an exemplary cabinet secretary or other government post. Remember Juan Flavier as Secretary of Health or Miriam Santiago as Immigration chief? They were exceptional. That's why when they became senators making laws related to their experiences were easy.

During the height of the pandemic, people were close to going crazy and cursing the government like hell, especially when lockdowns were enforced. The ayuda did not come sooner and before the ayudas were distributed people were at a loss. And I only truly remember three people in government who kind of moved in action before the national government got its act together.

One is Leni, the other is Isko and the other one is Vico. Leni is the vice president so she was able to move on a wider range than Mayor Isko and Mayor Vico.

I can vividly remember the restlessness, listlessness and frustration of the people during those times, especially when you watch news, oh what a depressing time that was. Remember when the frontliners were already crying they were stretched to the limit and yet they were left to fend for themselves.

This is through from my memory watching news was that Leni had been a first responder. Even Angel Locsin did more than other government officials. Isko and Vico were beacons of hope too for their cities. I think other mayors too were on top of things like the mayor from Marikina and San Juan, but I just feel Isko and Vico among mayors were just more impactful and creative.

I think I made my piece very long. So personal motivation, support from people and how they responded to times of crisis is what I look at when choosing a candidate. Platform not too much because most candidates have not really been true to their platform or most likely when they took to power priorities have changed.

Well, I hope I was helpful. Remember, this is just me, and sometimes I can be weird. Choose wisely!