Wazzup Pilipinas!?
I guess this is the election when there are quite a huge number of hopefuls, from presidential down to senatorial candidates, and not just at the national level, I've also seen so many aspiring to be among the local government officials. Are they truly aiming to serve the public, inspite of these crazy times when the pandemic has given us so many challenges? I'm quite amused of the political environment in the Philippines as there are so many choices available but still mostly composed of the same faces.Thoigh there are new players, many are also connected and allied with the same traditional politicians we've known throughout the years.
Among the new faces is Senator hopeful Astra Pimentel (Naik), running under the PDP-LABAN and proudly endorsed by President Duterte himself.
It's not my first time hearing her talk as I was able to watch her during the SMNI senatorial debates, and she is indeed good in expressing her ideas, and hopefully she will also be a hands-on government official who will not totally rely on her staff doing groundwork, but even going to farflung places to personally witness and experience the realities of the real world. Sabi nga niya, kahit baha ay lulusungin niya, makarating lang sa kanyang paroroonan. We do need somebody who is not afraid to get dirty. We need somebody who will walk the talk, someone who also acts correspondingly and not full of just press releases and publicity.
Though she seems to be too grateful of President Duterte and Pimentel for all the opportunities in government, we've learned that she started from the lower ranks and went through several positions before this level up to a senator position. Those years of experience is among her advantages as we know she can relate to what's happening at most levels unlike other senator hopefuls who quickly jumped to running as senator. We just hope that all that "utang na loob" would not make her blind and ignore the shortcomings of her "idols". Also, her loyalty to her party should end when the fate of the country and Filipinos are at stake.
It was also revealed at the Meet and Greet that she was the woman behind some notable movements that paved the way to many political movements so we are guaranteed that she knows how things work behind the scenes so she won't be totally dependent on her staff to orient her on the basics. I guess there's really a woman behind many great men.
As a wife and mother, the revelation that she is in a good relationship even with the children of her husband from a previous marriage and treats them as her real children, and that the kids love her even more than their real mother, shows that she can love without discrimination.We need one like her that would welcome us with open arms inspite of such situations.
When asked how she wants to be identified amidst all the other senatorial candidates, she is more inclined to be a champion against women trafficking especially for OFWs. Incidentally, her husband is also running as a nominee of Ako OFW partylist. Both husband and wife are geared towards the benefit of OFWs.
Her promise is an open door policy, similar to how she has been doing ever since working for Pimentel. She assures that everyone is welcome to reach out to her as conveniently as possible without the hassles of bureaucracy.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
