Lovers and politicians

By Michelle Kristine D. Saraum

Recently a girl friend told me that she had gotten tired of repeatedly falling for frog princes. Many times she thought that she had found the ideal man, only to realize in the end that she had to leave her imagined dreamland.

That made me realize that some women actually keep waiting, trying and choosing until they find their ideal man, or maybe until he finds her. The usual scenario goes like this: A man introduces himself as someone who is ready to do anything and everything to win your heart. He buys your favorite flowers and chocolates. He brings you to fancy restaurants. He calls you 24/7. He drives you home. He waits patiently. He gives you his undivided attention—until he sweeps you off your feet.

Slowly you start comparing him with all those other men who are trying to win you. You weigh things. You ask questions that only you can answer: Is he more attractive? Is he more stable? Is he sweet? Is he responsible? And the questions go on and on.

The man who gets the highest score wins your heart, and takes it all: your love and care, your trust, your loyalty. You believe in his promises.

Then your expectations are dashed. You call his attention to his shortcomings. You give him chances.

Nothing changes. You get tired. And you break up with him—for the meantime, or for good.

Hasn’t it struck you how (traditional) political leaders can be so much like such (traditional) lovers?

Politicians advertise themselves as wholesome agents of positive change. Some project a squeaky clean image, cleaner than a piece of cloth after being soaked for hours in detergent powder. Some promise to distribute rights over row houses. Some would paint the city pink to show how everything would be in order once they are elected to higher office. In other words, they promise heaven, but what we get is less than heavenly.

Power almost always spells trouble as greed comes into play. Money becomes their mistress, and politicians crave for more while the public interest is completely neglected.

We end up hating them. But what can we do? No matter how loudly we protest, they are deaf to our complaints. They hang on to their posts like leeches. They suck the country’s resources. They become richer, while the rest of us become poorer as administrations come and go.

Like women who have fallen in love with love, we keep on believing. We become blind. We fail to see the things that are essential for good governance. We are deceived by what they present for our eyes to see and for our ears to hear.

What make the situation worse is that we can’t break up with politicians just like that. We have to bear the consequences of electing them to public office. We have to wait until their term is over, but then we elect them again for another agonizing term. Like some women who choose to be fooled all the time, we repeatedly allow ourselves to be seduced by the promises of politicians.

Truly there is no ideal political leader, just as there is no ideal lover. Who would not want to be with an attractive and educated man? Who would not want a political leader who has the skills and the intelligence to lead the nation?

They say that we should be wise in making choices, be it picking a lifetime partner or a political leader. But if we think about it, the problem lies not in how we make a choice, for we never know how someone will behave until he has been chosen. The problem really lies not with us. It lies with them.

A good man and a good political leader should have a heart that is faithful, and a conscience that is clean. A woman has to pick someone who has the pure intention to stand by her for the rest of their lives. The country needs leaders who run for public office not to fulfill their personal ambitions, but to serve the nation.

They say that every woman is meant to be with her one great love. But Filipinos, it seems, are destined to keep searching for their one great leader.

(Michelle Kristine D. Saraum, 25, is a full-time employee and full-time law student)