IT was almost a week has passed since candidates for the Senate and partylist organizations have kicked off their respective political campaigns for the upcoming May 13, 2013 midterm elections.
More or less, the Filipino electorate are already familiar with the names of these candidates even before the start of the election campaign due to the commercial advertisements each one has placed on television or radio, and even on the social media.
Even the popularity surveys showed us on who among them are likely to win a seat in Congress, keeping us updated on who are ahead of the electoral race and who are lagging behind at least in terms of public awareness and acceptability.
A quick check on the roster of these candidates would show that many are rehashed, if not at all traditional, politicians whose names have been around for quite some time and whose previous public performance is nothing but unsatisfactory.
We have at least four incumbent senators seeking reelections, some are come-backing senators while still others are either wife, brother, son, aunt, or cousin of incumbent politicians. A few independents are extending their luck for national office. Sadly, these candidates do not excite the Filipino voters.
For many of us, there is nothing much to expect from these candidates because they are all of the same mold and do not seem to offer fresh ideas that could enhance the public democratic discourse in the country.
The Filipino electorate remain clueless on what each of our candidates stands for with regards to particular issues that matter to them. It seems that a lot of good people I know have the vaguest idea on what solutions they offer to address our problems.
Well, the Filipino electorate have more than two months to evaluate these candidates and decide later on who among them is worthy of our trust and confidence to represent us in Congress.
Meanwhile, our candidates should mind their public statements and actions because the whole nation is watching them very closely.
