There were two intellectuals who lived significant lives about 2,000 years apart from each other. Yet, despite the differences of their societies, they spoke on a common subject that in its commonality seemed to be applicable even to us human beings centuries still after them. I believe I have written few separate articles about those geniuses. One was the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (Aristocles), who was born in 427 BCE I am almost certain that our historical records of Plato are not yet complete but I am equally sure that among his philosophical thoughts we could discern the quote “the price good men pay for their indifference to social affairs is for evil to rule over them” or words to that effect.
The other great thinker was Edmund Burke who was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1729. Burke, according to the internet, spent most of his career in Great Britain. Being widely regarded as the philosophical founder of modern conservatism, one of his famous quotes was “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
I like to think that while Plato and Burke lived different social backgrounds hundreds of years apart, their concept of “good men” is still similar in all civilizations more importantly as it is to ours. Did not Confucius, (551– 479 BCE), for one, argue that “people, at birth, are naturally good” and Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), for another, believe that all humans were naturally born good. We humans must indeed be all born good because theologians don’t fail to remind us that we are born in the image of our God.
Since we are only seven months away from the 2025 polls, allow me to echo the ideals of Plato and Burke for us good men to participate in this coming social affair called election and elect men and women who are verifiably competent to become our leaders. Let me limit myself to the arena of the Senate. I am here identifying few personalities among those with higher probability of making it to the magic 12, per various publicized surveys.
For us “supposedly good men”, the first qualification for anyone to be elected senator must be competence. Since competence is defined as the ability to do something well or effectively and the job of a senator is lawmaking, let us therefore elect a senator who has the academic preparation to know the nitty-gritty of writing laws. This early, Manuel “Lito” Mercado Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Bautista Jr., and Philip Salvador may be good actors who can project the characters of movies and memorize script. But, I have reason to believe that they don’t understand legal concepts much less formulate them. Good looks do not necessarily translate to knowledge of legal principles. That is why for years, we wasted our taxes paying the salaries for the deafening silence of Lapid and Revilla in profound legislative debates.
Emmanuel “Manny” Dapidran Pacquiao is famous the world over for his boxing genius. I saw his punching power when he broke the nose of his opponent in his third match, a four-rounder. Since then, I have done everything to watch his fights. Pacquiao reportedly earned a college diploma and that is noteworthy but I am pretty sure that he will still be incompetent in the intellectual craft of lawmaking. In the Senate, he will only be an embarrassing figure. That is why I will not vote for him too.
There are 24 members in the upper chamber of Philippine legislature. Just imagine if, as my initial listing, the four of them whom I have mentioned above get elected, they will constitute one-sixth of the entire Senate ruling over 115 million Filipinos. What a calamity! If Plato and Edmund Burke were alive today, I am darn sure that they’ll ask our good people not to vote for them.