Be careful in making decisions

By Joshua Corcuera

In life, we have to make decisions every now and then. And if we want to succeed in our goals or targets, then we must be careful and certain of the decisions we make.

For example, if we do our groceries and we want to save money, we tend to buy in bulk so that we can save a few pesos in our purchases. It may cost more, but in the long-term, the expenses per unit tend to be lower than buying tingi-tingi. Moreover, if you are a graduating high school student, you tend to think critically on where to study and what degree to pursue. Would you prefer to study in prestigious universities because of their prominence, or to study in nearby ones to save costs?

In our daily lives, we make decisions often, and we must decide well if we do not want to mess things up. This coming Monday, the Philippines will go to the polls to elect its new public officials including the president. The presidential election occurs only once in six years in our country; with this, it is imperative to treat this rare event seriously because the fate of our nation until 2028—and maybe even further beyond—depends on a single date, May 9, 2022.

It cannot be ignored that governance, whether good or bad, will affect society whether for better or for worse. Policies and programs of administrations will certainly have an impact on our lives whether directly or indirectly, and it is essential to have a government whose policies genuinely benefit the interests of the masses.

As we can see, our nation is still dealing with many problems: economic recovery is still a struggle, the pandemic is ending but a surge of cases is still possible, corruption and red flag in government institutions were reported in recent years as they have always been in the past, our national debt is about to break the ceiling. We need to decide who will deal with all these issues.

Hopefully, voters will not decide merely on name recall and popularity, but based on credentials, track record, and experience in governance. Let us admit that ours is a country where popularity is king—being popular, even if one is incompetent or lacks experience, is enough to win a prominent seat in government. We need to change this old manner of deciding who to vote into office.

We have to remember that our government institutions are not a circus, we do not need clowns or handsome or beautiful faces, we need competent people from their respective fields advancing the cause of good governance. More importantly, it is a must to look, evaluate, and scrutinize their past because it is a sign of how they will act as leaders should they win public office. We should not merely depend or rely on promises or platforms, what one has done is likewise crucial.

With this, dear reader, be careful of who to vote for, vote as if your life depends on it—because it does. Bad governance will prevent us from achieving our goals as a nation, good governance enables us to reach greater heights.