A COALITION AGAINST POLITICAL DYNASTIES AND CORRUPTION
BANTAY GOBYERNO 005-2024 (For August 16, 2024)
A COALITION AGAINST POLITICAL DYNASTIES AND CORRUPTION
A new coalition called Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan (ANIM), was recently formed, according to Atty. Alex Lacson. Among the founders of ANIM are retired generals, including former AFP and PNP chiefs. Bishop Coleen Bagaforo, the president of Caritas Philippines, and Bishop Gerry Alminaza are also among the founders of ANIM.
Aside from campaigning against against political dynasties and corruption, ANIM will also be advocating for electoral reforms. Atty. Lacson said that ANIM plans to hold a press conference on August 23, 2024 at 10 AM at Club Filipino. They are inviting like minded organization to join them in the press conference.
I remember that it was the late Mr. Lauro Vizconde who founded Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), believing that the two advocacies would blend very well together. As a tribute to him, I can now say that he ways correct, because either directly or indirectly, these two national problems are somehow connected to each other, because it could be said that corruption could breed crime, and it is even possible that those who commit crime could very well be the same people who are committing corruption.
I have not met the organizers of ANIM, and as a matter of fact, I do not know all of them personally. I surmise however that they believe that political dynasties are somehow connected to corruption, and vice versa, they are connected to each other, one way or another. Even without categorically saying it yet, they seem to imply that introducing the right electoral reforms could somehow prevent or remove political dynasties and corruption.
Personally, I believe that we could not, and we should not ban or limit the number of political dynasty members from running for public office, simply because we are a democracy, and everyone has the right to run, except of course the convicted criminals. However, I also believe that the solution to the problem is better and stronger voter education, even if it would take longer to change the voting behavior of our citizens.
Since my line of work involves computers and databases, I am inclined to believe that we should provide the voting public with complete data about the performance of public servants, so that their voting decisions will not only be performance driven, it will also be data driven. Will there ever be a majority of intelligent voters? For the sake of our country, I hope so. IKE SENERES/08-16-2024
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