Taking shape

The 2016 elections is just around the corner and we see that the political landscape in our country is slowly taking its shape. There is quite an uncertainty of what will happen in the next six years and the true certainty lies in our hands.

This week has been dedicated to those who will be filing their candidacies; a formal declaration of your intention to run for public office in the 2016 elections. So far there are no complaints or threats reported. I hope to keep it that way. The previous filing of candidacies had reputations of enemies looking out for their nemesis and attacking them come the time when they go march to the Comelec office. Case in point is the Maguindanao massacre.

Politics has been a bottleneck competition between clans and those in power. Others who have the potential never even bother to file that certificate. They would rather wallow in their own homes and bask in the comfortable life given to them. There is already a sense of stability, why push for something very complex, complicated and money-driven.

In fact, a lot of aspirants have transferred their allegiance to opposing parties. It's like moving from one home to another, and the feeling of comfort takes awhile to settle into. Well, I guess it happens and that's how politics work in our country. We hold nothing against those who want to be in public office, even as early as now where some of them are going from barangay to barangay. The power lies in the vote that we make come May next year.

Yet, how could we vote if some of us are not even registered? In my consecutive trips to the Comelec office for the past few days, long queue has been becoming imminent as compared to the holidays where the said office was opened. Typical Filipino. In one of the long lines, I heard complaints about lack of time and hot weather. They also complained about what they call inefficiency of the agency's personnel. Excuse me, but the Comelec has been doing their part in making their doors open for you. In the past months, they were open on Saturdays and have brought the registration to barangay halls, gymnasiums, schools, and malls but the response has been low than what they have been expecting.

For a week, the registration will be suspended. On the last day that it was open, many were flocking to the off-site registration in an uptown mall in Cebu City. When will we, the Filipinos, stop cramming at the last minute? It is an indication of an indolence that has been with us ever since the time of the Spaniards. The tendency to delay things because there is always a next time is already irritating as it is already is.

These are just some of the negative aspects left to us by our forefathers but we have the choice to change this if we would just comply. I could only imagine the 2016 elections: as the last minute draws nearer, people would flock to the lines. Goodness, let's get this all together. The earlier, the better.