Philippine Election 2010: People, not survey…

“People — not surveys — elect leaders. Otherwise, let us not have elections anymore, but coronations,” these were the words of Senator Richard Gordon, one of the more popular presidentiables, after finding out that his name was not included in Pulse Asia’s survey.

The survey contained the list of nine winnable presidential candidates in 2010, and Senator Gordon’s name was not included.

“Election is not about popularity, money, or political party. It is about the careful choosing of our nation’s next leaders who should have clear vision and right values, and the competence, integrity and reliability,” Gordon said, adding that if such is the case, elections should not be held anymore and we should only hold coronations.

Does it sound like sour-grapping to you? Well, it does to me. Would he have the same sentiment if he was included in the list and topped it instead. Although we have seen survey leaders who have ‘modestly’ brushed off news of them on top of the race, saying that “it is not their primary concern” at the moment.

Gordon, though has a point in saying that surveys are mind-conditioning. I personally believe that this should be stop altogether, as it is not really helping anybody, especially us ‘common’ people.

With only a year to go, the Philippine political scene is definitely alive… no matter how hopefuls say that they are focusing on the next year’s election yet. They are more concern on the plight of the Filipino people right now.

What we see on TV commercials show otherwise.