Choosing the "lesser evil" crap

I remembered a friend telling me about voting for the “lesser evil” among the presidential candidates, instead of someone who has the skills since that lesser evil will be the most likely to win. My friend said it would’ve been better to choose yellow because he hasn’t done anything much to screw his name. But I said, THAT is the reason. He hasn’t done ANYTHING, that’s why there’s nothing to talk about, except his celebrity parents and siblings.

Can a person expect someone who hasn’t even done anything for years in office effectively run the country? Can we expect economic development from someone who easily bends his knees to please the crowd? Can we expect somebody who easily turns tail after being criticized for his stand? Certainly no. He will be easily crushed in the political area, let alone help the in the country’s development.

It is not only about the weak political will, but the skills needed to properly handle business as big as the country. Choosing the “lesser evil who’ll win” over the “not evil person with skills, but most unlikely to win” is doing disservice to the country. My friend’s not the only one thinking like that; most Filipinos (who are politically literate enough) actually do. If all of us thought like that, then that politician with skill will certainly lose. And if we chose the lesser evil, who do you think can we blame when that person wins and do the corruption thing all over again? It’s not the politician’s fault--- it’s ours.

If there’s a choice between the “not evil” over the “lesser evil”, then why not choose the “not evil” one instead? Even if he might not be able to win, at least we still have the face to criticize the incumbent for his actions. It’s not about the concept of who will win in the race, it’s about idealism. If we chose the lesser evil, then we are accepting the responsibilities that entails with voting for that person. We are giving him the power to abuse since we already expect him to abuse it, though not blatantly compared to the others. For years, we were so used to this thought that we blindly chose our presidentiables for popularity than experience.

We shouldn’t follow what the surveys told us and vote for the popular leading candidates or the lesser evil between the two. Let’s consider each candidate’s track record and analyze what he has done through the years, then choose the right person for the job. In fact, if you analyze enough, there will be VERY few candidates left who can fit the job; and trust me, they are not in the top surveys.

It’s just sad to think that Filipinos are always blinded by the glamor and popularity that it does great disservice to the others who actually did well on their work, but failed to get credit for it. Perhaps it’s time for the people to shape up and choose someone better than just someone with a lot of face on TV.

Remember, this election will be the most critical point in the Philippines. With so much problems piling up, choosing the right candidate to run the country is the most important thing a Filipino must do right now.