I was in a bus when I saw in the street a 40 year old man in dirty rubber shoes, stomping his feet upon an empty plastic bottle. Next to him was a sack of what appeared to be 20 or so flattened empty plastic bottles. And on his other side is a pile of empty plastic bottles yet to be squashed by his dirty rubber shoes. And then a thought saddened me.  I thought of how much or rather how little he would earn for his huge effort of stomping on those bottles. Let us do some math here. Suppose he can flatten 7 bottles in one minute. In one hour, he would have 420 flattened plastic bottles! That is a good number of plastic bottles. But would he earn enough from selling them to put food on his table? It sure is a hard life especially if you compare it with the life of a person working in the office, earning P400 for half a day’s work.

Here is another scenario. I bet at least once in your life, you were able to cross paths with a person rolling a wooden cart containing used bottles and old newspapers taken from the garbage dumpsters outside your house or somewhere near your street.  Now let me ask, have you ever wondered why they endure the heat of the sun, the polluted air and the tiring long walks, just so they can earn a living? I’m sure somehow you thought, maybe they can do better with a more convenient job. There are a number of other alternatives. But as any job applicant knows, qualification is a necessary consideration. How can they apply to better paying jobs when they have not even finished high school? How can they finish high school when they have to work since they were little, in order to support their family’s needs?

I am sharing these tidbits of everyday scenarios to make you remember the reality of our nation. In a statement given last April 25, 2010, by Bishop Nereo Odchimar, the President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), he asserts that “The country is in a critical situation.”

All these tidbits of news above are just accurate incidents showing the truth of Bishop Odchimar’s assertions that there are “the need of true moral and social transformation”, “an erosion of moral values” and a “truly widespread corruption and dishonesty all around us.”

However, a change in leadership in the government is a chance for some transformation in this country. And so, for this coming election, he calls for us Filipinos to unite “in self-sacrifice and in hope for our great people, and our beloved land”. Let us be one in pursuing the “realization of [an] integrally free, clean and honest election.”

Now it may be true that political strategies have already been established to promote corruption and dishonesty in the election results. But as our truly Filipino quote says, “Nasa Diyos ang awa, sa tao ang gawa.” Thus, Bishop Odchimar claims, “there must be first a turning to God in prayer.”

“This is why the Catholic Bishops’ conference of the Philippines, endorse the urgent novena addressed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, interceding our Father in heaven, for the realization of integrally free, clean and honest election.” Bishop Odchimar calls for a novena, as proposed by His Eminence Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila starting May 01 to May 09.

The novena is for God’s “awa”, deciding wisely on who to vote is our share of “gawa” in bringing about a transformation in our country.

In a pastoral statement of Archbishop Fernando Capalla written in the year 2004 when he was then the President of the CBCP, he enumerated 3 criteria to consider in choosing the candidate to elect to office. These are as follows: a person of competence, of conscience and of commitment. We see a person’s competence by looking at his record while in office. What was he able to accomplish? How did he use his power in order to serve his people? What situations showed his leadership abilities? A person of conscience is one who promotes respect for human rights. What did he do to combat prostitution, drugs or child abuse? Has he been transparent in all his transactions while in office? Has he had any issues regarding abuse of power and how did he address these scandals? A person of commitment is one who is active in pursuing a vision for a better nation.

Media has been very active in providing us with many programs that help us get a glimpse of the running candidates — what their views are, how they think and how they react. It is our duty not just as citizens of this nation but as Christians as well, to ponder on who we will vote in order to provide this country with a respectable and capable leader.

If we add this kind of leader to a community of people with the right attitude and values we would have less saddening scenarios. Hopefully, we would have better laws protecting people from abuses from those who are in power. Hopefully, we would have better educational system to cater to the less fortunate population so that they would have better chances at getting themselves respectable jobs which would not require their risking their health. Hopefully, our nation will be changed, even just by a little bit.

As Bishop Odchimar puts it accurately, “the success of the election is significant to the country’s political and economic stability while its failure could further the suffering of many poor people.”

Your vote would mean less saddening everyday scenarios and more amazing stories happening here in our country. Don’t you want a better society for yourself and for your fellow Filipinos?

- By Kristine Turado