Philippines is run by elites not by the people....

[v-freak]

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Erap does not belong to the "elite". Kasagaran sa mga elite, aside from being rich for many generations, they are highly educated and exposed to the mechanisms of politics. Erap was just being used as a puppet by some of the elite, because of the simple-mindedness and shallowness of our masses.

Para nako, mas maayo usbon nato ang atoang constitution, nga not everybody should be given the right to vote. Kinahanglan naay requirement. Ang U.S. gani, sa ilahang pagka democratic, dili gani tanan maka botar ug presidente. Look at majority of our voters, many of them are uneducated, easily swayed and you can buy their votes at a very cheap price. We should also set a basic requirement for all candidates running for public office. Mo-apply tag trabaho sa gobyerno, daghan gani ang mga requirements, how much more for the officials that will be running the country? Mas strikto unta ang requirements. Unahon nato ning duha ka isyu, then we can slowly go from there.

[Dorothea]

If not everyone (everyone who has reached the legal age for voting, that is) is allowed to vote, then what kind of government will we have? because I don't think we can still consider that a democracy...

not to be contrary, argumentative, or anything...but...just wondering...

[v-freak]

Not at all, Dorothea. The constitution should be set that legal voters should at least be high school graduate level (para nako ra na) then kadtong nag bayad ug buhis (income taxes, etc). In my own opinion, we do not need democracy at this point, because we are not mature enough to have democracy. What we really need is discipline and responsibility. Sad to say many of our countrymen don't know what democracy really means. We think democracy as something we can do whatever we want without taking responsibility.

If this is changed, in my opinion, we will have at least a government that is elected by educated and responsible group of people, and not by manipulation or vote buying.

[bongjo]

democracy? it is just like the air we breath, we can never appreciate it until it goes limited....

[Pinkdimensions]

democracy?? would it help build a better nation

[shimiyu]

naaah. a better nation lies with the people implementing democracy.

[Pinkdimensions]

implementor ra? how about those ordinary ppl lang.. what should they do?

[bongjo]

ordinary people, are those who sweat out thus producing extraordinary results,
special people, guess those were born with a golden spoon,

[shimiyu]

implementor ra? how about those ordinary ppl lang.. what should they do?

no, i mean as a whole bah. my point is that a governmental system does little in changing the basic attitude of the people.
change should start with us, with our character as Filipinos. and dang, it's easier said than done.

[baron]

Assuming without granting that the government does little to change the basic attitude of the people, this is because of the fact that change comes from the people. It is very difficult to impose change to people. Yes, the government can impose and implement rules that should be followed. Still, if the people won't cooperate, it will only be futile, at the very least.

Let us not forget that if the government has its own sets of responsibilities to the people, so we are. If we think the government is full of elites, then we should stop electing those elites. Otherwise, we are just letting ourselves be ruled by the elites.