THE nation votes today to elect 12 new senators, half of the membership of the Senate, along with district representatives and party-list organizations for the House of Representatives, and a host of local officials. We are holding our elections at a time when we are at peace, enjoying progress on so many levels and in so many areas.
In many parts of the world today, there is continuing violence – the war in Syria which has now lasted seven years, new fighting in Libya, rockets fired and bombs exploded in Gaza and Israel, hungry mobs in the streets of Venezuela. Thousands of hopeless people are seeking entry into the United States and Europe. Sunday Masses have been cancelled in Sri Lanka in the wake of the recent bombing of its churches.
We share the grief of these people. At the same time, we must be grateful that the Philippines today is doing well in so many fields, especially in the once troubled areas of Mindanao, and in overall economic development which has been recognized by international organizations.
Most of all, we must be grateful that we are holding elections today. We will elect senators and representatives who will form the next Congress of the Philippines, and governors, mayors, and other local officials who will run the thousands of local governments all over the country.
There was a time last year when some officials sought to cancel these elections, wanting instead to change the national government via constitutional change. Fortunately these efforts were blocked and so today we go to the polls to elect new sets of officials who should bring new energy, new ideas, a new spirit of service to our nation.
Our elections are indeed a blessing, one of so many blessings that we should count as we look around the world and see many other nations in distress. We look to our teachers and other Comelec personnel who will be manning the voting precincts. We trust that our police forces will be able to blunt any efforts to use violence to affect election results.
Most of all, we look to our voters to exercise their precious right to vote. And we call on them to elect officials who truly deserve to lead our country in the various offices of our government.
