Good Vs Evil? It’s Not That Simple

By Leslie Anne Umaly

For a campaign that anchors itself on love, there is so much hate hurled at critics and those whose views are different. What VP Leni’s supporters need to understand is that this is alienating their candidate further from the votes she badly needs.

So many missed chances to convert Filipinos to vote for VP Leni primarily because they cannot shed this innate elitism that they know better than other Filipinos. Na bobo sila, tayo ang matalino.

At ang totoo, pare-pareho lang may propaganda ang bawat kandidato. Ang dapat nating tanunging sa sarili natin - nadaan ba tayo sa mga propaganda ng mga ito?

Hindi black and white ang pulitika. Hindi sya labanan lamang ng masama at mabuti. Hindi sya simple.

If we cannot contextualize politics in this country, if we cannot see beyond our social classes - and what circumstances those social classes allow us to live with - we are bound to be trapped in this circus.  And sometimes, we don’t even know we’ve been trapped.

Ang pagpili ng iboboto ay hindi lang naman dapat inaangkla sa pagsuri ng kandidato.

Elections must be an exercise in examining the society we live in, the realities of the most vulnerable sectors, the issues which matter most to us, alongside the candidate which best represents what the country needs the most at this moment of our shared history.

There is absolutely no value in asking anybody to vote for VP Leni because she is the only one who can beat a Marcos.

One month before the elections and here we are. Bongbong Marcos is leading with over 20 million votes against VP Leni. The better path her supporters could take is to understand where those votes are, who they are, what they need. This would help VP Leni’s supporters understand why Marcos’ message resonates better.

Tigilan na ang pangmamata sa mga hindi naniniwala kay VP Leni.

Lahat tayo ay may kalayaan at karapatang pumili ng gusto nating Pangulo. Kaya nga tayo naninirahan sa isang demokratikong lipunan.

Ang tanong ay pagkatapos ng eleksyon, bibitawan na naman ba ninyo ang bola para lang kunin at buhatin ulit kapag may eleksyon na naman?

Our civic duty isn’t just during election season. It is every single day we live and breathe as Filipinos.

Minsan masakit sa puso, pero minsan, tanungin din natin sarili natin - Ano ba ang naiitindihan natin at alam natin sa sistema, proseso, karakter ng pulitika at pamamahala sa bayang ito?

Madaling pumuna, madaling manisi ng iba. Mas mahirap tanggapin na para sa marami sa atin, marami tayong hindi naiintindihan sa pulitika.

Ang hamon: intindihin natin.

We cannot beat an enemy we don’t understand. And to understand, we must be willing to question even ourselves.