A Vow to Keep the Flame Alive...

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When I was requested by a friend to write about my personal views regarding politics and on who I'm gonnaI vote for..my initial reaction was.. WTF! I've always been allergic to this topic. I even begged my friend to suggest something else but insisted I should stick with it! Wow the pressure! My braincells all of a sudden filed for a VL.... felt the shivers..guts began to churn...my inner self telling me, “You must be crazy Mae, there's no way you're gonna write about that shit!” The happy go lucky me.. the ever self motivated and confident food blogger who doesn't give a damn to the outside world's insanity was actually requested to write her opinion on politics..her friend must be looney as well!..oh boy this is gonna be a riot! But after a week of contemplating and gathering ideas on how to go about with this article, I've finally decided to give it a go! What the heck?! Why not challenge myself once in a while and go out of my comfort zone? I'm gonna pour out all my emotions and say it all directly from my heart, as always, Phew! Inhale.. Exhale...

First and foremost, I'm a firm believer that each Filipino is innately overflowing with God given talents. Given enough education, the right attitude and room to grow, I know.. I just know that we Pinoys can achieve more and surpass the hurdles our country has been facing for centuries. We may be busy with our own little worlds (texting, updating profiles and spending long hours with fb applications etc), but I know that deep within each of us lies an undying flame of passion for freedom and a dream that someday, each of us would freely roam the world with a head high. Sadly, due to the rampant mediocrity roaming around town...it seems we've been too lax and indifferent to our duty to the motherland.

The future of the Philippines doesn't and shouldn't just lie on one so-called messiah or to the foolish ideals of influential puppet masters. When will we ever learn? This, my friends is mediocrity at it's finest. Until we ourselves make a mental decision to really really change and start being responsible for at least ourselves, it's just gonna be like a vicious pathetic cycle that is surely gonna kill our spirits and put all our heroes' efforts to waste. We are sick... yes we all are! There's something wrong with our mental attitudes. We have been in denial for so long... We've allowed politicians to splurge on our hard earned money and blind enough to believe in this image that they keep on instilling our minds that our country is poor. I beg to disagree! I'm just sooo sick of it all!!! The Philippines is NOT POOR. You only become poor when you yourself choose to accept it! We limit ourselves and find it so hard to break free from this bondage because of this false image we think we have. The problem is not the lack of opportunities but the lack of courage to seek greener pastures. We are NOT composed of lazy, uneducated restless rascals but proud, wise, compassionate and hardworking citizens. We are so rich with natural resources envied by neighboring countries. We have skies so blue and fields so green..smiles so true and love.. yes.. love for what we do. Our minds need fine tuning indeed!

Ok, let me go straight to the point. I've chosen to give my sacred vote to Noynoy Aquino on this 10th day of May which is also my birthday. Why? Because I want to! Ok ok just kidding.... It's not really because of Noynoy but because of my unshakable belief in his father's ideals. The man whom I think is the perfect example of what a Filipino should be. Whenever I listen to his speeches and learn more about his life, I couldn't help but get teary-eyed and be moved because I can feel that he speaks with so much passion about his being Filipino. On the last night of Cory's wake, I without any doubt stood in line for more than 4hours starting midnight, enduring strong typhoon winds and floody streets with only an umbrella and my heart pumping with overwhelming gratitude and admiration for such a strong woman.. I would have just chosen to stay at the comfort of my room and sleep, but there I was... that cold windy unforgettable August night, patiently waiting for my turn to pay my last respects for the woman who gave our country hope. To Ninoy's faithful wife who continued to fight for freedom. The atmosphere that night was filled with lament yet full of hope and a vow solemnly made by each person that time to keep the flame of democracy burning.

So who should you vote for? I say you vote not just for one individual but consider the people behind that individual who have the same passion and belief for democracy and prosperity to reign. We have an oversupply of politicians but a scarcity in statesmen. Statesmen who have been fighting for freedom and equality for decades..the ones defending the helpless. Statesmen who are united by the heart - by bonds of respect, honesty, and compassion - is strong and unshakable. Vote for someone with a heart of a hero... someone with a blood of a hero! Keep the fire burning and vow to pass it on to generations to come.