Let’s prepare voters to elect right candidate for president

At noon of June 30, 2016, a new president will take his/her oath of office. This momentous event will be crucial in our journey to the future as a nation. Which underscores the undeniable fact that much is really expected from us, voters, aside from the urgent call for us to raise the bar in choosing the person who will stay in Malacañang for the next six years.

Indeed, the highest office in the land calls for someone fit to be president not only because of his/her abilities but more so because of his/her intellectual and moral commitment to serve the best interest of his/her “bosses.”

We must put an end to our practice of choosing the undeserving. It is getting to be more urgent—we are called upon to choose only the most capable and worthy of occupying the presidency.

In a democratic society like ours, it is expected that we voters are “sufficiently knowledgeable and well-informed” about the candidates and that we take into account not only their political platforms but also their stand on controversial issues and how they intend to address them if given the chance. But this is only possible if the nation had a well-educated constituency, because those who know tend to decide from myriad perspectives which guide them to vote rightly.

For this purpose, every effort must be exerted to ensure that the next person we place in Malacañang will have the commitment and selflessness to discharge the functions of his/her office for the common good, not for personal gain.

—MARK JEROME T. BONGALON, markjerome.bongalon@bicol-u.edu.ph