By Sofia Baldonado
With the national elections closely approaching, Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) Civic Leader and Hirayang Kabataan Director Carlo Africa urged the youth to end political dynasty by considering ‘alternative’ candidates apart from the longstanding alliances.
During the voter education webinar on Wednesday, Jan. 19, titled “HALA ANO YAN!? Mga Dapat Tandaan sa Darating na Halalan 2022,” Africa shared his take on why he stands for dismissing the political dynasty from his experience as a team leader in LENTE.
“For me as a volunteer in LENTE, naging malinaw sa ‘kin ‘yung gusto ko ng better Philippines for all Filipinos. Kailangan natin ng more and more alternative candidates sa ating mga balota,” he stated.
When asked about what amendments he would like to have in the Philippine election code that the next Congress should consider, he did not hesitate to mention various matters including premature campaigning, vote-buying, and political dynasty.
Moreover, Africa mentioned the statistics available to prove that the political dynasty system had been dominating the Philippine government throughout the years.
“80% of our governors come from political dynasties, around 78% of our vice governors [are from] political dynasties, around 75% (from the House of Representatives) [are from] political dynasties, and for our mayors, mga 55 to 64% [are from] political dynasties din.”
The Hirayang Kabataan director added, “Ang nakakatakot dyan, if you look at the governors and vice governors, at least for the data available in [the] 2013 election, 50% of them won the election na political dynasty versus no one or political dynasty versus political dynasty. Pare-pareho lang ang [mga] tao sa balota natin.”
Africa concluded his talk with the hope that it is feasible to attain a better political system in the country through sustaining youth leadership.
“Pero kami (Hirayang Kabataan), we believe that the better Philippines for all Filipinos is led by the youth and will be led by the youth. Ito ang naging vision [namin], it was created so that… when the time comes, they will be prepared to become those future leaders,”
To watch the full replay of the livestreamed voter education event, visit the official Facebook page of “HALA ANO YAN!? Mga Dapat Tandaan sa Halalan 2022” through the link below:
