Politics and the Philippine Society

Politics and the Philippine Society

The term ‘politics’ originated from the greek word ‘polis’ which means city state, or a form of organization, or a way of organizing ourselves. In addition, it can also come in so many different forms, however, what is important is how it can be utilized. The most basic thing which we may relate to this word is ‘power’. It is the power to lead the people, to govern the state , and most of all, to fight for and protect the rights of everybody in order to bring peace and order. In Philippine setting, when we talk about politics, what comes to our mind is corrupt leaders who stay in their positions because thirst for more power, and a government who is insensitive to what is happening to our country. For the past years, we have experienced so many problems and unpleasant things (oil price hike, impeachment of presidents, leaders not agreeing on certain issues, etc.), and this proves to us that some things should change. We can say that politics in the Philippines is truly fierce. One example of why is the assassination of Benigno Aquino which is one of the most tragic events in politics history. Furthermore, the many cases of money extortion of officials are also present in Philippine politics. In addition the cheating of voting ballots during elections can be considered as a proof of violence and corruption which exists in our country. There are no boundaries in the politics in our country. Deaths, bribery, corruption, cheating and much more can be attached to the politics here in our country. What is more disappointing is that the people, Filipino citizens, cannot do anything about it because of the authority and power given to the government. A lot of revolutions occurred in the history of our country, yes, there have been positive changes, but did it last? Once the newly elected president or any other official seats in their respective ‘thrones’, they are blinded with power and riches attached to their positions. This in turn will affect the welfare of the whole country.

As we can see, the main problem in the field of politics is the abusiveness of power by the government officials. We strongly believe that because of this abuse in power, there are a lot of problems arising in our country, which causes our country to still be at the bottom while other countries are continuously developing over time. With this power, the government officials tend to place themselves over others. They use their power in order to get investments not for the country but for their own sake. These officials are taking advantage of their time in the government as a way of making themselves rich thus making poverty in the Philippines worse. An example would be the president. The president knows that her time as a president won’t last more than 4 years. With such a short period of time, the president would not be able to do many things thus taking advantage of the opportunity of using the power she and her first gentleman has. With the highest position in the Philippines, they can control trade limitation, investments, and do illegal acts without getting caught. They run for a position in government because it allows them to move more freely and thus gain the advantage of getting richer and richer while with this, the people become poorer and poorer. The government has a lot of projects in line for our country, however, these plans remain to be seen. They have this mentality of “It’s not my problem”. What then, can we expect from the leaders of the country? We can say, then, that the money we pay through our taxes is not being utilized for our country’s betterment, but for those who are in the position. This just shows that the desire for power is so great that people fight over it through bribery and selfishness. Through our country’s government and understanding of politics, in power, there is greed, and in greed, is a downfall of not only a country, but also the society.