The Candidate of Your Choice 
Fr. Shay Cullen 
5 May 2016

What is it that drives voters, the common people, to cry out and vote 
for the false messiah to be their president and leader? Some voters are 
drawn away from more virtuous leadership and favor unrealistic fantastic 
promises of the bombastic candidate.

Even if such a candidate promotes hatred, racism and violence and 
approves and practices womanizing, insults religions and church leaders 
and supports vigilante killings of any suspect without trial, they can 
arouse a rabble of extremist followers. Can they be trusted to serve and 
lead a nation?

  In the United States and the Philippines, there are candidates that 
share such positions and attitudes. They are not the ideal leaders of a 
nation that aspires to be caring, compassionate and that respects the 
rights and dignity of all.

Good honest Republicans in the USA are outraged and disavow the extreme 
policies of Donald Trump, now the Republican Party presidential 
candidate. He will likely run against the democratic candidate Hilary 
Clinton.

He will ban Muslims from coming into the USA, and all illegal immigrants 
will be deported. Thousands of Filipinos could be in jeopardy.
Trump has insulted women, mocked a disabled person in public and vows to 
strike the enemies of America with overwhelming force if they don’t 
agree to his negotiating positions. If elected president, he will tear 
up every free trade treaty.

For Trump, it is America first and to hell with the rest of the world. 
For him, corporate America and big business should rule America and the 
world; not the regulatory agencies of government, not the UN. And yet he 
has reached a popularity that boggles the mind and troubles the heart.

But it won’t happen. Most American voters are wiser, smarter and more 
compassionate. They are good people and are generally non-racist, 
tolerant, caring, compassionate and respect the views of other even if 
they disagree. All North Americans are descendants of immigrants and so 
the majority will reject extremist views and racist anti-immigration 
policies when it comes to a national vote.

We hope it will be the same in the Philippines this 9 May 2016. The vast 
majority of Filipinos are also good people: intelligent, compassionate, 
caring, loving and self-sacrificing. They should vote in a responsible 
manner looking for the candidate that has a positive history of respect 
for human rights, concern and action for the abused children, compassion 
for the poor and is a person of unblemished integrity, free from scandal 
and of faithful family life.

Who among the candidates for president, vice president or for the senate 
meets these basic criteria and are competent to lead and inspire a 
nation of over 100 million people?
Is there anyone with a spiritual faith in the dignity of the human 
person and a true respect for this beautiful but suffering country and 
who has not enriched themselves with bulging bank accounts? A candidate 
who can lift up the downtrodden who has a record of caring and action 
for justice?

The candidates ought not have a history of corruption or advocating or 
being linked to death squads anywhere where there have been summary 
executions over the years. That is the path to power for these men of 
violence and greed.

Those voters hurt and ignored and left desperately poor and hungry by 
government will favor the vengeful threats of the gun-slinging 
candidates. That’s why they lead in the polls.
Failure of government officials to serve the public gives the violent 
extremists popularity. For example, to get a vehicle registration 
document at the office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Region 
3 takes months of waiting and inaction. Getting a document processed by 
government takes months. Such lack of service can unfortunately appear 
to some to be a bribe-seeking delay. To get a permit for a brothel can 
take just a few days or more.

To get the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Provincial 
Engineer of Zambales to act on the repair of a short 200 meters of road 
to a children’s home would take years, if ever they would repair it. 
Instead a Php 45 million road is being built with a private housing 
project as the main beneficiary.

More dissatisfaction is aroused when government elites and officials are 
part of the children and women abuse and escape justice by the decisions 
of some corrupt judiciary.
They ignore the hardship and abuse of the trafficked and enslaved and 
incarcerated women and children.

Responsible voting ought to be for the candidates who can be trusted to 
have the integrity and strength to respect, enforce, serve and protect 
the rights of every citizen with equality and fairness. Who meets this 
basic criteria? 
https://www.preda.org/
shaycullen@preda.org