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Dec. 9, 2003 On the upcoming presidential elections... Target audience: Gen-X Déjà vu. The scenario nowadays is no different from past ones. It's six months before the 2004 presidential elections, and politics have completely taken over the entire archipelago. Political bickering, party switching, and (irritating) candidates' advertisements are at its extreme. Even outsiders are feeling the hype, as was exemplified by United Kingdom's recent release of a travel warning against the country, for reasons including, "heightened political tensions". Specialized purpose The hyped up treatment of Filipinos to elections can very well be a gauge of how much weight they place on it. After all, as Rolan Jon Bulao, an Economics student from the University of the Philippines (UP) puts it, elections are "the clearest and most visible form of democratic activity." Public Administration student Charisma Abejar, also from the UP, considers every election as "significant", as it is the time when we choose the people who will determine the country's future. Sometimes, though, certain circumstances have led some elections to serve a more specialized purpose other than to elect qualified leaders for the land. The 1987 Presidential elections for instance, served as a crucial point on whether the Filipinos will be left in the hands of a dictator, or be directed to the path of reformation. The 2001 senatorial elections meanwhile, was a decisive point to legitimize the Arroyo administration, and was to serve as the starting point of the "healing process" of the divided nation. As to whether the persons elected carried out what was expected of them or not is another matter altogether. The 2004 elections seems to be no different from these, as it is about to be held under what appears to be special circumstances once again. Make or Break We are in the circumstances wherein, to paraphrase Conrado de Quiros' words in an article, the upcoming election may be our last chance, for its results may very well, "make or break the country". These circumstances arose from the political, social and economic problems-notwithstanding the government's claim of Gross National Product (GDP) growth-that continue to wobble what is left of the country's stability. | click here for full article | back to writings | next

copyright 2004 by jennifer c. estrada university of the philippines diliman, quezon city