No baby talk
By Georgene Rhena P. Quilaton-Tambiga
An article after a
long draught!
Corruption is a culture as
much as buying votes is a habit.
Just
when we think the election is a way to end this vicious cycle, that has long
hampered development not only in the Philippines but also in other third world
countries, it is just one part of the negative equation.
Some
months back, the ordinary Filipino used to think that the elections are still a
long way ahead and we all couldn’t help smirk at early birds on TV and on
tarpaulins. Now, we all know that tomorrow we wake up and it’s already Election
Day. Now that I get a black and white paycheck, I couldn’t help but feel
heaviness on my shoulder as my eyes immediately fall to ‘withholding tax’
portion. I still can’t help shaking my head in disbelief the amount I
contribute every 15 days to government coffers. I even can’t believe anymore
how much tax I pay when I buy my son’s cans of milk. And, Election Day is
judgment day that will decide where all my taxes, our taxes will go.
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| Photo Credits : leytesamardaily.net |
Everything
starts not with elections though but with the campaign period. During this time
voters get their once-in-three-years shopping spree—asking for medical
donations, basketball uniform sponsorship, the roofing or flooring of a church
or chapel, the rental of graduation venues, and what not! It is headache time
for the ‘generous’ candidate but he knows for sure this has to be the necessary
investment. For, indeed, in the eye of the ordinary voter, he who gives as much
deserves the vote for when he is in position his generosity shall lift people
from the sludge called poverty.
This
is not unknown to us. We all know that this is how we think and we know how we
think is wrong. We know, too, that this does not become true for he who has
invested much during campaign will reap a hundred times more than what we
planted. And, the candidates know that we know. We know what the candidates
know, but we still pretend we don’t.
Thus,
the moment we set our votes on the shop is also the moment we choose to get
much less value for the exorbitant taxes we pay, to get government officials we
know are not fit for leadership, but surely the official we deserve—poor, as
poor as the choice we make.
Vote
buying is not a politician’s habit. It is the voter’s culture. We expect to
sell our votes because we know they are willing to buy what’s offered on the
shelf. But when we refuse to sell, will the costumer have a choice? It is
simply like going to a store. You want to buy a box of milk but they don’t sell
in boxes only in cans. Since what you want is not available, you don’t get to
buy it. You can only buy what is available.
So,
why make your vote available for a hungry politician to buy?
All
right, the answer is the law of supply and demand. There is the demand for
votes, so logically we provide the supply. At the end of the day, this is the very
reason why taxpayers who should have the right to demand from government
officials, turn out to be the ones who can’t demand for the kind of service
they want from the people governing them.
It
is a cycle—plain and simple. The day we get out of this even Madam Auring
cannot predict but it sure will be a happy day.
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