Isang Tanong (One Question)

Usual Sunday night viewing is CSI marathon, that’s from 9-12 midnight. Most of the time though I only watch up to 11PM, CSI New York, as I am not a big fan of CSI Miami. So as I was changing channels, I came across the GMA 7 special “ISANG TANONG:The Senatorial Forum.” I wonder why I didn’t know about the forum earlier. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a teaser of it. Then again, I haven’t been watching much local TV except for the news and I flip channels when advertisements come. DVD marathon of “Prison Break” and this new series “Dexter” has been eating my TV time.

I was excited to find out that there’s a show that will try to help me know the candidates for the senatorial post. So far I only have about 6 people in my list of senators to vote for so there are still 6 more slots to fill. I haven’t done my research yet, on the background of the other candidates - I scheduled to do it this week.

SAYANG. Too bad the show couldn’t be aired earlier. I know a lot of people who are voting this May, who don’t know much about the candidates and are only voting for the ones that are “well-known” or have managed to get themselves well-known over the last few months as part of their campaign. It would have been nice for them to have listened to the answers of the candidates present but I know some of them are already asleep at that time – 11PM. Take my grandparents for instance; they are asleep by 830 or 930PM the most. Or my mom, my uncles and aunts who go to bed at around 1030PM. Papa (my maternal grandfather) is all set to vote for Cayetano, whom I totally despise(!!), because newspapers have been filled about him since late last year, “uncovering” anomalous practices of the Arroyo administration. To Papa, he’s one of our hopes to toppling down GMA. But if Papa heard how he couldn’t even directly answer the 3 questions that were thrown to him last night, I’m sure he’d think twice about voting for him. He just kept on using election campaign terms –“pahirap, para sa mahihirap, itigil/sugpuin ang corruption, ako man ay laki sa hirap.” etc. but can’t even give concrete, tangible plans. Seriously!?! Go to the rural poor communities who do not have access to clean water, to proper medical facilities, who can’t get the most basic/elementary education – that’s laki sa hirap! And “sugpuin ang corruption,” seriously, don’t even start with me on that. I was working for an anticorruption program which has been of existence for about 4 years only and I’m pretty sure they’ve done more about the issue than you have. And the leaders of the program are not even in Congress! You don’t know what you are talking about! (I told you I despise him!) Enough of that, some people who just choose to vote for underdogs might just vote for him.

Too bad not all the Senatorial Candidates were there. It would have been such entertainment to hear what Richard Gomez and Cesar Montano have to say or not have the ability to say. Hehehe. Where were the other candidates who spent millions on their TV ads, that show could have been good publicity. Or were they too afraid we’d find out they are incompetent and that their nervous eyes would sell insincerity? They shouldn’t have been really, because using Boy Abunda as their VO and using corny taglines like “Itanim sa Senado” at “Libreng Preschool” already told us there are just like actors.

Bakit ISANG TANONG lang? (Why only one question?) Some of them got lucky enough to get a good question they probably know a lot about. What about the other pertinent questions? I’ve been to job interviews and they asked a lot of questions related to the post I was applying for. They look into work experiences, character references and give situational questions and circumstances. And that’s only for posts that will handle about 30-40 people or 1 small rural community of 100 people. The Senate post is a national public post, for the entire people of our nation. I wasn’t accepted in a couple of jobs I applied for and I’d like to think that I wasn’t chosen not because I wasn’t good or that I wouldn’t be able to handle the job – I wasn’t chosen because I probably wasn’t THE BEST for that position and somebody else can do a better job. And so I don’t take it against the company (ok that’s not exactly true, I sometimes take it against them ofcourse-only human and rejection is not a very happy experience, hehehe). So goes for my standards for the leaders of our country. I truly believe my country deserves not somebody who’s just good, but someone who is THE BEST for the post!

Our country deserves more than one question to be answered. The post they are applying for is so important that it deserves a lot of questions to be answered. And not only in words, but just like in any post, we need to look into their past experiences which will make them qualified for the position; we need to look into their character and work references; we need to hear tangible/real experience based answers and tangible plans.

So here’s my “Isang Tanong” (for myself and maybe for you): Are you ready to search, research and choose the Best, most Qualified leaders for your nation using the same standard that you choose the people who work for you in your offices/businesses or in your homes? Because like I always say this is your only home, your only country and you are therefore a key instrument to either its development or its doom.