Surveys

I'm not surprised by the political noise that permeates the air nowadays.  It seems this is our lot as Filipinos and perhaps any free democratic nation on the face of the earth (notably the U.S.).  We are giving the media (the fourth estate) free reign; people don't care if it's true or not.  It seems perception is better than truth.  People will always have their desires satisfied, even at the expense of the majority or the nation.  They give more interest in surveys and polls, and we all know that if any government puts surveys in a pedestal, nothing significant will happen in this country.  Nobody really likes to pay more taxes; nobody wants to be laid off if that position is redundant, nobody likes high prices of goods (oil price I think is $60/barrel), etc.  Almost all fair-minded economists and bankers say that the E-VAT should not have been TRO'd by the Supreme Court; they say the state is losing P5 B a month as a consequence.  And perhaps the Senate didn't want to look bad they rejected the Lower House version of 12%.  Perhaps its high time for the Constitution to change: in addition to changing the form of government to Parliamentary (and strengthening the Party System) so that the executive and legislature will be one, the judicial system should be overhauled.  The courts should not legislate; they should just interpret the law.  Of course the people appointed should be qualified.

 

I'm not being paid by the government to say these things; personalities are not relevant, it is the institution that we should strengthen as long as they are functioning.  And I think the opposition will thank me for these ideas because if in the future (God forbid because they were themselves discredited in the past) they hold the reigns of power, people will support them because it's the institution that people see (not their thick-skinned faces).

 

As a final note, we should remember that we are only pilgrims on this side of heaven; there are more important things in life.  Life is very short to keep on fighting; stop being so makulit (rallyists take note) regarding our demands, political or otherwise.  Let's enjoy life while we can.  Let's just put politics behind us and go forward towards peace and development.