In the Philippines, the presidential and senatorial election is fast-approaching. However, do our fellow citizens really know who and how to vote? The usual basis of voting has always been about the public accomplishments, educational background and popularity rate that has something to do with the consistent remarkable reputation of a certain individual running for a position. 

Let me tell you a story I heard from someone closest to me. There was a housemaid with a screen name of Aleth, who works for an Israeli with a family name of Djemal that has transferred from their home country to ours who moved in the city of Makati who were always surrounded by the hall of fame such as celebrities, both actors and well-known singers, politicians, and other famous individuals randomly invited into their abode. Some were tasked to prepare several viands to offer to the visitors whenever necessary. It was then all arranged across the table minutes before the visitors had arrived. When the visitors are settled across the table along with the Djemals, the house servants must have their meals in the kitchen or a separate room rather, but it still depends on the situation because when it comes to personal and random visits, Aleth and the others were required to stay alongside the visitors to be able to assist them with anything that they ask for.

There was a time when a political visitor came with his entire family to have dinner with the Djemals. Aleth and the others were already in the kitchen to have their meal when a member from the Djemal family who was the light of the house called out to one of them for she finds it hard to reach the pitcher at the far end of the table. The visitor’s firstborn, Juan abruptly stopped her from doing so by saying, “No. Do not interrupt their meal. I can hand it over to you.” He stood up from where he was seated and went straight to the far end-side of the table to get the pitcher. He poured water into her glass while saying, “In our home, whenever we had meals, we invited our servants to have their meals with us. We move as if they are also part of the family.”

In the Collins Dictionary, politics is defined as “winning and using of society; the art of government; person’s beliefs about how a country should be governed” but from the word ‘politics’, one can form the word politic which is used to describe someone who is wise and likely to prove advantageous that only few countries are aware of. 

A politic must be wise in all aspects either governmental or not who never wears a mask to hide his true colors because in the world we live in, we are all sinners but not everyone could own up to their mistakes which sometimes lead to cover-ups up to a certain extent where they might even step on someone along the way just to maintain a good reputation.

Those are people who were just born to be wise but not everyone who was born wise were made to be leaders for only the wise could do both the good and evil at the same time. However, if he is leader-wise in all aspects even behind the camera, I guess you could already say that the country was led into the right direction and that’s the minute one can also say that “He really is a great fit for the underlying position.” This is the proper way of choosing a leader. It is to check if he fits all the corners of the triangle and not just staying cool at the highest peak. 

You might notice that whenever a new government official is seated, from the smallest administrative division to the palace, almost all of them were surrounded by a cloud of criticisms such as severe ones and verbal attacks which proves that no matter how good of a person we are, we can never please everyone but that doesn’t mean that you have to change your beliefs and turn your back in doing good. When someone does good things, the ones who know are just countable as on the finger. When someone does evil, almost the whole nation praises him, unaware that they were fooled. Sometimes, you don’t have to gain the approval of many just to continue to do good. Better embrace it privately and be proud of yourself for if no one supported you with the good that you have done, it would be their loss, not yours. 

Whenever you take a sip of your water, you’ll definitely be more not less of the person you are today because not everything is always blended in different flavors. Sometimes, something has to have no taste at all to be able to identify its pureness and transparency and it is indeed much better to stick to the original rather than a dummy. 

Thus, be ready to cast your vote not because of personal attachments or other earthly reasons. You must already know how to be in the hands of a rightful politician. No one would want to be led by a wicked individual except if you are not worthy to be a citizen of your country. 

Only with good intentions can our country start anew and be a comfortable place to live in.