Many people I talk to express their unwillingnes to vote this coming election. Their common sentiment: there are no credible candidates. Same old trapos, same old sound bytes, same old unexciting personalities, same old agenda and that is to win the election and milk the country as quick and thorough as possible.

For sure there may be a handful who are truly concerned about the plight of the country, but they will be merely overwhelmed by the selfish majority. Just take a look at the House of Representatives. Can you actually say you can trust in that institution?

This is why senatoriables who are coming from Congress are already suspect. So are the candidates who are jumping from the administration to the opposition and vice versa. Loyalties change according to where the political wind is blowing, leaving the Filipino with nothing but a kite to play with (matayog ang lipad ng saranggola ni Pepe…).

Then they spew out sound bytes of youth, environment and the poor, but have done nothing about corruption nor do they speak about it. Indeed, the Genuine Opposition (GO) has corruption as its sounding board, but it’s more of an attempt to discredit the administration so they can wrest power rather than a real agenda to do away with it.

The common perception among Filipinos is that a new administration will be just as corrupt as the old one. Politicians have only themselves to blame for this perception. Why? Because they’re seen as performers. And the influx of actors and TV personalities into the political arena certainly doesn’t help assuage this.

It’s like getting glossy pictures of huge, tasty hamburgers but, when we get the real thing, we become like that grandmother in the commercial asking, “Where’s the beef?”

In the Philippines, only the politicians get the beef. The people go fly a kite.

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