By: Joe Sprite

As the last day of filing certificates of candidacy draw near, the opposition is finally polarizing. There is now a group, which will take to the field to face the local administration candidates. It is not sure to what party they will be affiliated. However, highly informed sources say that anybody who will be joining them must sign a covenant not to draw salary in case they won. Their salaries will be donated to worthwhile projects like funding deserving scholarships and so on. This will expose politicians who make the political office a source of employment. Those who intend to do so must buy votes, either in money or in kind. There had been covenants in the past but it was honored in the breach rather than observance

The group is inviting a lady academe based in Cebu City to run for mayor. They would be fielding a powerhouse team – hopefully – to face the administrative candidates. Should this group be formalized the ins would not be having an easy time. Some of the majority party candidates are on their way out. Replacements are either acrobatic, recycled politicians or newcomers with limited exposures.

Because of their covenant, they do not intend to spend for their political campaign for more than what is necessary. Political campaigns do costs something. The move may be quixotic but idealistic in a sense. It would not only start a change in our political system, it would also try to wean voters from their mendicant mentality. Voters had become choosy. They go for the highest bidder. There are those who will not vote unless cash greased their hands. If all political parties agree not to buy votes, there would be a few turn out, and if this persists every election there will be voters who will be stricken from the voters' lists. Serves them right if they are deprived of their right of suffrage since they do not value it.

The beauty of being in the opposition is that they can hit without the chance of getting hit. Unless some of their team is also a recycled politician or a perennial loser they might be a force to reckon. Mayor Exam Lloren may seem less formidable. His Sanggunian may have earned national recognition because of their legislative work. In fact they are now receiving plaques from the league of their peers. All they can show is they had qualified as a resolution and ordinance factory. However, they have isolated themselves from the voting public. True, their output is noteworthy. However, they have not shown their faces to the grassroots where it matters most. They have isolated themselves in an air-conditioned session hall. Anybody can go there of course and observe how they work but the closed doors of an air-conditioned room intimidate the great unwashed.

The opposition could always harp on public gripes since one cannot please everybody. The pier is about to be finished but it was constructed by the Philippine Ports Authority and the municipal government has nothing to do with it. The completion of the port will benefit the vendors but the vendors are complaining that they are herded about or concentrated on an area not of their own choosing. The market is starting to acquire a second story but there are complaints about high rental rates and strict implementation of rules and regulations. Natives refused to be disciplined and the opposition could harp on the gripes to gain political mileage, unless the opposition would stick to high level issues and not cater to unreasonable complaints. This means to say that administration candidates have their work cut out for them to stay in office. This means that they will not have any smooth sailing. They might be asked, where were you all these years? Some of the deserving opposition candidates might make it in. but how can one describe a deserving in this political atmosphere?