Discuss: Philippine Election Issues and Presidential Candidates

ahm just like my prof said...they must attack corruption and at the same time other problems of our country like poverty that is very related to the corruption

i think elected leaders should address the corruption in the government.. this is the most important above anything to improve the lives of the filipino people... If the budget is properly allocated in the proper manner and right services will be given to the public, incidence of violence and crimes will lessen.For me this is the reason why Philippines doesn't look attractive in the eyes of foreign investors.Corruption is the root of all problems in the Philippines like High Crime Rate and unemployment, which lead to some of the best filipinos to work abroad in search for much greener pastures...

i thought no more campaining during the day of voting , how come ninoy aquino is talking to the media (abs cbn),about 30 minutes ago, is that a violation of election law.

actually....as a student and with reference to the issue of curruption. for me the real source of this curruption are the private interest of almost all the public officials who had their reign in the country...instead of rendering public service to the mass of people...they just work for their own personal interest...how could they take seeing filipinos dying in poverty.

Just like many other Filipinos, I have grown cynical and distrustful of politicians and the government bureaucracy. Many times my trust have been broken by the greed and corruption of those in power. But I will not wallow in a pool of hopelessness - I truly believe that politics are evolving for the better. And whether the country also moves forward will depend on how wisely we vote this May. With the majority of voters from the youth, we might as well have a better leader.

maybe it's just me but comparing it to the last presidential elections, i think it's a little less beserk now. i think we have more good choices (based on the candidates various strengths and weaknesses) to pick from. when i talk to my colleagues and people my age, the variety though of qualified candidates tend to make it hard for us to make THE choice. candidates need to be more concrete in their platforms, but aside from that, what guarantees that the winning candidate WILL put these into reality? is it their track record? the reputation they hold? the past political years have left me more doubtful than i've realized about candidates and the words they deliver during campaigns. i know one thing for sure: the candidate that can give a concrete, realistic answer to questions and/or plan for the Philippines gets more plus points from me. we don't need another suitor with flowery but empty words. candidates must be warned that Filipinos may have learned to be more scrutinizing and have learned as well in reading between the lines when it comes to campaigning.

I was in Manila last week and was pleased with the reduction of traffic jam thanks to a mv rotation system in terms of being on the road. I was also pleased with the appearance of the city being clean and tidy, though more work needs to be done. The most pressing issue however is the rate of unemployment. Until such time that the government is able to generate an economic policy that would create jobs, hope for the beautiful people and country is fading away.

It is so sad that a Filipino can get ahead only if he leaves the country and escape from extreme poverty. Many of us did, hoping that things will get better but they are only getting worse. Leaders have no clue about nation-building, more concerned on shaming other leaders. Washing dirty linen in public has been a main Filipino preoccupation, its national past time. Meanwhile television lulls the Filipino mind by dreaming about winning lots of money out of luck, not hard labor. Expats attend TV programs where they donate their money earned somewhere else. Everyone seems to rely on the labor of their relatives who leave their children to work for cheap wages. Why, because the Philippines does not have anything to offer by way of decent professional or vocational development. Get rich quick by any means is now a Filipino past time. The people deserve the leaders they elect. They can not think for themselves. They imitate US preoccupation with gossip identifying with people in the entertainment business.

Let's be honest. The politics that we see on TV and other media is just entertainment. Nothing real is going on there. jsut poeple wantign tomake money by "luck" or whatever. The masses take sides over irrelvant issues. There does not seem to be an entrepreneur class that is the foudnation of a nation. IF there is it must be very small in number. The Philippines has huge structural problems: Too big a government which has become a basket for employment; balance of population growth rate against GNP. The Philippines has become a satellite for other nations. Filipinos make their money outside the country as low paid laborers. What happened? IT needs to build its infra structure: roads, bridges, flood control, urban planning. We are suffering from "dependency". Like addicts, we became habituated to overseas income. Lots of Department Stores but no real industry to generate income. People cannot think rationally. They just have too many children they cannot support. Look at other countries and they have made the connection that population growth cannot be sustained .There has to be a population control policy or incentive for having zero populaiton growth, just to catch up with building teh infrastructure. Filipinos live vicariously. An artificial economy that relies on remittances. Adults go to work outside the country while their children grow up without parents.

Most of the commenters are of the same mind. Top priority: fighting corruption. And to fulfill the government's obligation to the under 25-year-olds who make up more than 30% of the country's population, education and jobs creation. But little progress can be done until the Philippines moves away from the rule of the oligarchs and becomes a meritocracy. What has brought the country down isn't corruption but the self-serving rule of a few big families who have neither talent, education, decency, and vision to govern.