Those Who Sit (Not Just Sitting)

                                                  (image: quotlr.com)

Mo silbi or magpa silbi?

It has always been a debate on why there are those who run for public service when in fact their motivations are unclear. We cannot discount the fact that there are those who deserve to run… still, what drives those who cannot even make a draft of a resolution?

Butuyan (2022) mentioned that an election provides a stage that generates public attention for individuals who crave fame. Running for office feeds big egos. It also gives the same adrenaline rush associated with gambling, because getting elected into office can yield a bonanza of great wealth as viewed by those with unscrupulous intentions.

What if others are just bored? And since there is an election, what a good way to fill in the empty hours by doing something…

Public servants work for government and for citizens. They're responsible to the elected government, not a political party or themselves. They develop and deliver public programs or services and provide evidence-based policies to defend constitutional rights and improve the quality of life among the people they are serving.

Ergo, this is not some hobby to do for a person not to get bored.

The examination of political ambition emerged with the classic study by Schlesinger (1966, p. 4), who described “political ambitions” as being shaped by a person's “office goals.” This conceptualization of political ascent argues that people take actions which enable them to reach their goals of advancing in their political careers.

Sadly, Philippine political parties rarely pay attention to their platforms but are used to perpetuate their members’ personal and clan interests. They do not rigorously select qualified candidates as they revolve around political stars seen to have the best chance of electoral victory (Wong,2022).

There is a need for the ambitious to have research skills to arrive to data-driven policies. The mind-set must be changed as well for them to be more SELFLESS than SELFISH since public office is FOR the people.

The voting public cannot control the motivations of those who are running for an office. But, the people has the power to elect the ones they see as capable of serving the public.