Editorial: Pray for our future

ON MONDAY, every qualified voter, young and old, will be trooping to his/her respective precincts. They will be kings of their own conscience while many others will be the devils who had without qualm already sold their souls. The future of this nation, of the city and the towns in each province and congressional district, will once again be placed in their hands. And then we say, we deserve the government that we choose to have.

For the Philippines, this has become a vicious cycle. All the rules of the Commission on Elections have been violated, the dignity of men trampled upon, and the candidates, who turned to be toughest, smartest, wiliest and dumbest, and richest because of their ill-gotten wealth, become the victors.

In the Senate race, the choice is obvious: it is a fight between principled men and women and without taint of corruption versus a complete slate of plunderers, murderers, liars, and manipulators.

Some even say that God no longer rule over our country. Our streets are filled drug dealers and criminals. The poor and the unemployed are packed in squalid colonies. We choke on the air we breathe. We stumble over our own litter and waste. We rush pell mell from pillar to post. And every candidate for office smell and look like a sweet-talking thief, if not a serial killer.

Indeed, our hearts grieve for the next leaders that will rule our Senate, the House of Representathives, our provincial capitols and municipal and city halls. These men since the start of their political career have been playing God with our lives and, it seems, we did not care. Else, how come we are still in these deep, dark hole, whining, grieving, suffering.

With the clever twisting of half-truths sweetened by grease money these so0called politicians gather followers in their folds. And manipulate them into carrying out their own selfish purposes. They blind men to personal conscience and responsibility. And enslave them to the wishes and ambitions of the selfish state. And as we quote our favorite preacher Fr. Joseph Galdon in critical moments like this, our leaders have become starry-eyed mystics who assume that they are God’s special gift to mankind. And who, through devious tricks and inscrutable gifts, create their own little cults of misled disciples.

And we can only pray. We pray that God will take over our country, when wickedness will be overcome and selfishness subdued. We pray that there will be clean air to breathe and pure water to drink. We pray that there will be kind hospitals for the poor and jobs for those who seek them. There will be dignity and freedom and equal rights. There will be homes for all to live in and parks to play in. There will be libraries, theaters and halls of learning. And all our people will have time for one another.

And justice there will be when plunderers, murderers, and cheaters will be plunged into defeat like the fallen Lucifer. On the next day after the voting, we hope we can start to cleanse and rebuild our forsaken country.