Define Life

Whew. That whole circus of a campaign season is finally over. But let’s be real – that was just the trailer for a brand-new season of the same old shit show we’ve seen far too many times in the Philippines.

We’ve seen it all before – familiar names, recycled promises, and drama left and right. Some(or most) people ran like they were auditioning for a telenovela or a dance competition for kids, not public office. Now we’ve got a new set of clowns in the Senate, let’s see if they’ll actually do something useful for once… or just keep being a waste of taxpayer oxygen.

In the meantime, we’ll finally be waking up again peacefully. No more cringe, blaring jingles. Just back to the normal rush hour mornings with crazy traffic, and human and air pollution. Same chaos, just without the annoying campaign posters.

It’s frustrating. Every election, people hope for change, only to find out that it all just leads back to the same cycle – Corruption, poor service, and leaders acting like teenagers trying to blend into the world of influencers, instead of stepping up and acting like real officials.

Then again, it’s no surprise. The list of candidates even included several old actors way past their prime, and politics just seems like their ticket to a comfortable retirement.

That said, I’m glad some of the dancing clowns I cringed at the most didn’t make it. Maybe, just maybe, more voters are finally thinking for themselves, and fewer are voting based on TV/internet fame and fanboy loyalty.

And that narcissistic pastor – yes, the one who was jailed (or maybe still is, who the hell knows) for sexually abusing children – was actually allowed to run for Senate. The fucking Senate. The fact that a convicted predator could even file a candidacy is a damning reflection of how broken the system is.

God I was holding my breath as I checked for the vote updates online yesterday, hoping not to see his name in the Top 12 because, somehow, he’s still got legions of brainwashed followers willing to worship him like a god. It’s disgusting. For all we know, that man can weaponize his money, his so-called “divine authority,” and whatever scraps of influence he has left to claw his way into power. Thankfully, he was far from winning. Still, seeing his vote count reach over five million is beyond disturbing. Just fucking ridiculous.

I still don’t think most of those who made it to the Top 12 look promising, but here’s to hoping they’ll all fulfill their roles more than ever before. I’m not raising my hopes too high up, though.

I’m just done with all this bullshit. But honestly? I couldn’t help but pay attention. After all, we owe it to ourselves and the future.

Best thing we can do is keep calling out the ass-clowns, and give our support to the ones who, even at the very least, are actually trying to do something good – whether we like them or not, grudging as it may be. Personal grudges won’t fix anything, anyway, and denying decent efforts out of spite only makes things worse.

Again, we can only continue to hope that this time, they’ll deliver some real performance – not the stupid dancing, not the blame game, not the staged, feel-good BS that only comes out during campaign season.

I’m talking about actual work – passing laws that matter, showing up when it counts, and doing the job they begged us for. Not perform for the cameras, but perform for the country.

That for once, they’d stop turning it into a shit show, because we’re the ones stuck living in the aftermath of every episode.