Alindahaw
It is a silent day before election.
Everyone is excited and getting ready for tomorrow’s election. Aside from the
excitement brought by the automated election, everyone is also looking forward
for a show of alindahaw or dragonflies.
Politicians are about to set free a
large number of alindahaw towards their
constituents. This show of power is a major event of the period, rivalling the final
campaign rally. Many believe that the amount of alindahaw is a measure of the politicians’ success in the election.
The more you set free, the bigger your chances are of winning.
These alindahaw though are not the typical dragonflies. They are
different from common dragonflies for they have specific ranks and rarity that
can be easily distinguished by their colours. Orange alindahaw are the lowest in rank, followed by red and violet.
Green, yellow and sky blue are considered rare and high-ranking.
The alindahaw would fly from one household to another with extreme
intelligence of where and who to land on. No need to worry who sent them as
they always come along with the name of their master who is running for public office.
At the day of the election, alindahaw are still around for a final
settlement of those who are not reached last night. This time however, the alindahaw are kept hidden and are given
discreetly to people in the voting area.
By record, those politicians with
more alindahaw usually win the
election. But the registered voters know better not to vote them. Election is
only a business for them. They do not have the heart to serve. They are there to
hold power, money and fame.
We deserve better public servants. But
then again, we deserve the kind of leaders we have. For as long we vote corrupt
traditional politicians (or trapo),
we are never getting away from this circle of helplessness we are in. For as
long as the righteous and the real public servants, capable of running the
government continue to evade public service, we have no choice but to elect the
lesser evil among the trapo.
Today, the youths make up the large
voting population around the world. This sector in the Philippines, for
instance, has been predicted by many to be one of the principal players in the
next presidential election.
And so I appeal to all the youths in
every corner of the world: Be the change.
Change starts when we stop wishing
and start acting. It starts when we get in to that election precinct and cast
our votes. It starts when we stop patronizing trapo and supports politicians with clean and proven track records.
We cannot stop politicians from releasing
alindahaw. What we can do is to
accept the alindahaw flow on to us
but not vote for their masters. Often, the sources of these alindahaw are the corrupt politicians. They
give away the alindahaw knowing that
when elected to office, they will control and get much more than what they
spent.
We, the youths should not keep
silent or be silenced in this important battle for good governance. We are the
hope of our nation’s future. We are the face of change.
Be proactive. Be vigilant.
Be proactive. Be vigilant.
Author’s note: Alindahaw may be interpreted differently. They may refer to the promises or gigs of politicians during elections. In the Philippine context for example, they may refer to the Philippine peso bills: orange for the 20 peso bill, red for 50, violet for 100, green for 200, yellow for 500 and sky blue for 1000.
The Uniquely Philippine Alindahay
