Voting isn’t just our right, it’s our power

As amended by Article V of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, suffrage or right to vote must be
exercised by all citizens of the country who are at least eighteen years old, and have resided in
the Philippines for at least a year.
With our right to vote, we have enough power to completely change this crumbling nation. If
you want to have safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+, then vote for potential allies in the Senate and
in local government.
Voting represents the power of all citizens to keep the government system working. It’s a
privilege every citizen should enjoy. The people we elect are tasked to develop and implement
various policies for our benefit. So, it’s only fair to wisely select the ones who uphold the right
principles. But voting isn’t just about choosing the future leader, it can also be about exercising
the rights our ancestors fought for. Whether first-time voters of not, this country needs
intelligent votes now more than ever. Voting isn’t simply our right—it’s our power.

It’s empowering to play a part in shaping the country’s future

Our right to vote increases our social awareness while empowering us to cooperate in political
and social activities. Through these activities, we can follow the progress of our nation—
enabling the general population to make educated choices about who to vote in favor of the
public’s best interest.
With our right to vote, we have enough power to completely change this crumbling nation. If
you want to have safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+, then vote for potential allies in the Senate and
in local government. If you’ve had enough of lewd politicians blaring their profanities during
diplomatic discussions, then it’s time to elect decent leaders who can handle the etiquettes in
the professional arena. Case in point, if you want a better country, then vote intelligently.

It can make an impact (for the greater good)

Yes, it’s cool to use our power to vote to change the world, but it comes with the responsibility
of choosing the best candidates for every elective position. And having a say in the future of our
country is even more empowering. Getting to finally cast your ballot after the whirlwind of
campaign period is a relief and a source of hope a ballot can shape the country’s future.
“It is time to recognize that our choice must not be tied solely to an analysis of individual or party
platforms but to civic virtues that we believe must underlie and determine the behavior of all citizens in
relation to our society”

Marker in hand and facing an elongated ballot sheet, we citizens elect our fellow citizens in accordance
with the answers we have created for the question: "What will happen after the elections?"

Though I will not criticize the weight and validity of this question, I argue that we must ask this equally
important question: "Why should we vote?"

"We should vote" as a positive and oft-pronounced answer cannot bear the weight of a question that
necessitates further analysis.

Now, why ask the question?

First, we must recognize that while our votes give victory to candidates, it also helps sustain our political
system in its entirety. We are not only electing individual candidates but we are also justifying the
existence of our country’s political system. Votes give victory, voter turnout gives legitimacy to a political
system. As members of the state (as tax payers at the very least), citizens have the capacity to
determine its persistence, development, or demise.

Through the electoral process, a political system can derive its legitimate existence through quantitative
means. Though this is not sufficient to ensure near absolute legitimacy (the ideal for legitimate
authority), it is enough to allow a system to achieve a sense of internal cohesion (i.e., it will continue to
function as a whole), and to justify its existence as a center of power in our society.

Simply put, we are voting for both individuals and for the continued existence of the political system.
"Why vote" as a question directly leads to another question: "Can we allow the political system to
continue?"

Thus, as citizen-voters we must recognize that our political system is based upon the capacity of the
majority to sustain it – at least at the level of ideas and legitimacy – through the act of voting. Also,
those who are vying for fundamental change must re-think their approach towards this legitimizing
institution.

Second, this question opens up another path to other relevant and oft-asked questions. For example, if
we ask the question"Who should we vote for?" in relation to "Why should we vote?" then we are
necessitated to analyze and arrive at conclusions on how should the political system and the elected
serve our interests.

We are forced by this combination to go beyond the promises and behavior of individual candidates and
ask: "Are we voting for leaders, public servants, or servant-leaders?"
These more specific questions must be recognized and asked because they are reflective of our
expectations from the political system itself that necessarily includes us and is sustained by our act of
voting.

So we must first measure and be conscious about our expectations of victors and of ourselves after the
elections.

To illustrate, if we are voting for leaders, then the tendency is for us to leave public affairs to the victors
and return to and remain mostly within our private lives, occasionally reappearing in the public sphere
through direct means like public acts of protest, or indirect ones such as through social media and
everyday conversations on public affairs.

If we are voting for public servants then we must recognize the necessity of constant political
participation. Public servants must act towards the public in a way similar to servants acting in
accordance to orders coming from their masters.

Third, if we are voting for servant-leaders, then it’s indicative of our want for leaders who will work
alongside us; that is, working with us and neither through, nor for us. To clarify, servant-leaders are
those who aim for a balance between constant inputs from their constituents, and their own managerial
capacity and strategic and long-term perspective.

Lastly, I note that by asking why we should vote, we take a path that leads to another question: "Is there
an alternative to the current political system?"

I believe that it is a question that we need to ask regardless of our answers because it allows us to place
a foot in the realm of the ideal while keeping the other one within the incumbent system. This question
forces us to evaluate the performance, not only of individual candidates but of the system itself.

A political system, especially a democratizing one, could only justify its existence if it can effectively face
the question of alternatives – ranging from the more radically democratic to authoritarian systems. For
this reason, this issue is worth pondering upon in the context of the electoral process.

To conclude, I will not dare answer a question that we must answer ourselves as individuals and as
members of our respective communities and sectors. I believe that none should impose an answer to
anyone, and that the survival and development of our democracy depends on how we justify our answer
to this question.

Moreover, it is time to recognize that our choice must not be tied solely to an analysis of individual or
party platforms but to civic virtues that we believe must underlie and determine the behavior of all
citizens in relation to our society. By asking the question "why vote," we turn our attention away from
individual candidates and towards the system itself and to the principles underlying it.