Why Do Politicians Run For Office?
Senator Manny Villar recently made the news again with his assertion that it would cost at least P1billion to effectively support a presidential candidacy. If that were true, the question we all need to ask now is: Why would anyone even bother to run for president?
I’m sure many of us have wondered what drives politicians to run for public office. The salary of a public servant — and this includes the president — isn’t much. Top executives in private companies earn so much more. There are also the hazards of the job: constant criticisms, nasty rumors, coup d’ etats, destabilization etcetera, etcetera. And, let’s not forget, the many problems that he/she will have to address.
Our politicians must really be crazy. But, seriously, I wonder why they would even think of running. Is it because of a deep, patriotic desire to serve or a belief that they are God’s instrument? They won’t directly make such a claim but they are not above leading the voting public on to assume that they are the answer to all our problems, the achiever of all our hopes and dreams.
The question remains: What drives our politicians to run for office?
I am sure you remember our days with Tabako.
Seeing how he worked, almost first hand, makes me wonder if it is any kind of life one would choose to live if you already had P48 Billion and could spare P4 Billion to P 5 Billion.
If someone claims they are running because they want to help the country and you want to see if there is any truth to this claim, one thing you can look at is the person’s track record. How was he or she at helping people out in the past? How many people has he helped and how has he helped?
[Reply]
Loosely quoting Senator Manny Villar, I think he said he was running for President because he wanted to use his business acumen to bring the country back to its feet. Why? Because he loves this country sooooo darned much!!
[Reply]
i agree track records will tell us more about a candidate’s real worth. i know of a few politicians who are really worth considering. however, i find that sometimes their achievements are either blown up too much for effect. in such cases, one has to slice through crap first to get to what is real and true about that particular candidate.
i guess it’s not always the candidates’ fault. i think it’s their spin doctors who are at fault. sometimes these paid hacks forget that real achievements already speak for themselves. they don’t realize that when they overdo their propaganda work the result almost always goes the opposite way. they should know subtlety also works.
[Reply]
You’re right, candidates do embellish their accomplishments for effect and sometimes it is the spin doctor’s fault.
On the other hand, could it really be avoided? Even some ordinary job seekers write their resume to make it seem that they’re more than qualified for the job that they are applying for. What more for those seeking higher public office?
I have yet to see a candidate who will deliberately say stuff about their track record and be painfully accurate about it.
Like for instance, can you imagine Villar saying that he actually didn’t make all the money he has and proceed to say that the money he has actually came from the hard work of all the people who he hired to build and sell his real estate?
Or how about Gordon? Did he really create 80,000 jobs in Subic? Maybe he didn’t create them HIMSELF, obviously, it was the corporations who located in Subic that did the hiring. Perhaps not 80,000 but certainly a lot. Is this a big deal? For those who got those jobs, certainly. But for the millions of others in other parts of the country, they wouldn’t think much of it.
Did he really create jobs through tourism? I don’t think he can really take credit for all the jobs created through tourism. Perhaps all he did was to come up with the Wow Philippines advertising campaign and other programs in DoT. Perhaps all he did was talk to tourism organizations all over the world and tell them that Philippine Tourism is great. Then perhaps the tourists came and perhaps more than the usual number showed up. The only basis we have for saying that 2,000,000 foreign tourists came to the Philippines in 2003 is the count made by DoT and Airport officials. Then there is the rough figuring that every tourists creates jobs for around 10 people. It is a leap of faith to say that this means 20,000,000 people got jobs out of tourism in 2003.
Maybe it’s not how many but where the jobs were created. Do you know of Donsol? Before tourists there came to watch whales, everybody was dirt poor. When the tourists came, their economy picked up. The change between having nothing to having something is dramatic and radical. Big deal? Maybe.
But I think we do need a better way of cutting through the crap of most political propaganda. If there is anyone who can go over the fine details of their resumes and supposed accomplishments, it has to be someone like you — only with the voice of James Earl Jones or Barry White.
Lastly, I wonder about subtlety working in a country with a city like Metro Manila where people don’t heed signs like”BAWAL TUMAWID DITO, NAKAKAMATAY!” and get rammed by an oncoming truck.
[Reply]
references to politicians are generally allowed. however, please try to keep the campaigning to a minimum and no mudslinging please. we are trying to promote transformational politics, which i believe your candidate advocates. please lead by example. thank you.
[Reply]