Thinking Out of the Box 13

Profile of Philippine Presidents

I came across an interesting Table in Manuel L. Quezon III's blogsite. Although incomplete, the tabulation below compares the educational background, professional history, and political experiences of the past Philippine Presidents from Manuel L. Quezon to Gloria M. Arroyo.

What conclusion can be drawn from it? How can historical data guide in deciding what qualities of a man/woman should lead the country? It goes without saying that education and experience alone do not guarantee paradise. We, as a nation, are closely intertwined with the changing world, which we should bear in mind.

In the 1987 Constitution, a person may be elected as President or Vice-President unless he is natural-born Filipino, a registered voter, can read and write, at least 40 years of age, and resident of the country for the last 10 years. The same are required for a Senator and a Representative with slight variation in age and residency in the country.

In contrast, a random search for janitorial profession put high school diploma as a minumum educational qualification. Does this mean that the basic Law of the land is more loose than job hiring?

As responsible Filipinos who love the country, voters should carefully choose who to support. We have to think many times and avoid letting emotions govern our faculties. Time and again we had allowed pedigree politics, group thinking, and neanderthal politicians to run the country. It is time to unlearn them. Forget them and try something new. Try something different. Judge on a candidate's merits. What they had done before is a prelude to their direction. But this requires hard work on our part. We have to do it to better the nation and eventually ourselves, otherwise, we will end up with the same sentiments.

We have to do our homework of scrutinizing each political aspirant's background, track record, and platform of governance. It's like doing the American Idol. But this time the politicians are the candidates and the voters are the judges. Shine and feel like Simon Cowell or Paula Abdul. The candidate will have to convince you as the voter why he is worth the vote.

This time they will become truly a public servant.

Presidential Bio Data

Available at: MLQ3 on Tumblr!