EDITORIAL

After elections, what now?

“Now that the election is over let us have unity and strive for economic progress,” is the favorite line of many a politician or government bureaucrat nowadays. No beef with that but after every election, we are back to our old, bad ways. It is back to work with all the wheeling and dealing. Would we have change after this election? Definitely yes, but for good or bad, that is the question our lawmakers would have to answer.

Where this country would go from here would be determined by the officials we have elected to office and the ones in Malacanang. And unless the people at the top would mend their corrupt ways, expect their subalterns in the rural areas to follow suit except for the few, rare and honest ones.

After this election, maybe one of our elected bigwigs would float again discussions on amending the constitution. Another would propose a parliamentary setup. Another would oppose it while another would say all are missing the point. This is the type of situation we are in now. We elect politicians to argue, rule over us and get our tax money while the economy is neglected.

We have three more years before another election is held and this time, to change the president. In between this time, we will have to know the immediate concerns and platforms of the politicians we have elected to office and other executive officials. They should be able to deliver their promises. Three years is too short a time and once these officials should sit down in office, they should spell out their immediate programs and announce it to the people.

Since they had a lot of promises during the campaign season, they should be able to implement the doables immediately. Those who will make good on their promises would have better chances come 2010 than those who do nothing but have an eye for people’s money. This blighted country is considered the most corrupt and “sick man of Asia ” and unless the people we have elected to their part, we would just be another Banana Republic, no thanks to our purported “servants of the people.”