YUO want to have a bad hair day, angry, stressed or have bad vibes? Or would you rather let out all of those emotions to unburden yourselves?
Well, just open your hand-held gadgets (if you have any with you) and read all those badmouthing by or among avid supporters of Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. And perhaps if you want a piece of the actions in the unexpurgated statements and pictures in the social media, simply join the fray.
Yes indeed, the most bruising and reputation-devastating political squabbles this election season are not anymore fought in the rally venues but in various social media platforms. And the worst symbiotic attacks are not done by the candidates themselves but by their supporters and hired trolls.
These political foot soldiers are using the social media platforms because so far there is no entity or even clear government regulations that will interfere with their action whether said or done. Unlike that of the mainstream media were write-ups of reporters, pictures and even press releases coming from this and that candidate have to undergo the process of editing and scrutiny if there are no journalistic laws being violated.
And compared to the mainstream, utilizing the social media platforms may end up much less expensive and could provide the candidates wider reach among voters. What with almost 100 percent of electors equipped with gadgets like cellular phones, lap taps, tablets and desk tops. Even those living in the most rural areas for as long as these places are lucky enough to be within the coverage of mobile phone signals, almost all voters therein have the gadgets and browsing over it is now the people’s favorite past time.
Even farmers who are in their most lonesome chore, plowing the fields, now have a new way of whiling away their break time – scrolling their cellular for anything that helps them do away their tiredness. Where before they brought with them transistorized radio set to hear their favorite dramas and music, now they can have all of these in the more modern and sophisticated gadget.
Hence, even if the candidates these days are restrained from having personal interactions with voters because of the pandemic, with the social media platforms as their means of campaigning it is as if they are not prohibited from conducting house-to-house visit. They can even virtually join the people in their individual workplaces like with farmers in their fields.
And this is why diehard backers, or those who feel affected by the harshness of comments of some netizens against their chosen candidates, can at any time join the battle royal.
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We personally believe that it is about time to revert to the former 2-Party system in our mode of election. And if we will be able to realize the desire to amend the constitution for that and other purpose we strongly push for the same system as that of the United States where the winning President carries with him or her, the Vice President.
That way an incoming administration will not be haunted with the thought that if the elected Vice President comes from another party he or she will be out to sabotage the programs of the new leader from the very start of the term. In other words, there will be no trust issue in the set-up.
It is our take that the prevalence of the multi-party system in the Philippines as it is now is the one stagnating the social and economic growth of the country.
For now any Tom, Dick and Harry can organize a political party and have it accredited by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), if he has the means – financially and connection, those are.
And sad to say, this multi-party system is now the reason why we have as many as 10 candidates for President, 14 for Vice President, and some 60 bets for senators. This is also the reason that even the dominant parties these days hardly had completed line-ups. To make the requirement of 14 in a complete slate the parties do the adoption scheme allowing some candidates to be carried or seek inclusion by or in as many as two to three parties.
In other words this scheme in the Philippines’ political system has become the breeding ground of political butterflies, oftentimes putting to the disadvantage the most qualified in the fields of aspirants.
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