Putting Politics of Personality in Place

One reason why we can't move on as a country comes with our penchant of following the politics of personality. It's like tagging our selves as a kapuso or a kapamilya. Whether the show they are showing you is trash or not is out of the question. If it's from the network you love, you'll defend it with your life.

Same in politics. We vote for our leaders. We suppose to choose leaders based on platforms and ideals. But the reality is with the way we elect, there are no platforms needed. Only personalities. If the person has charisma and likable, that person will be voted. And once elected, without clear platforms, he'll do and say things that people will just believe on everything he says. They won't question his decisions and actions. It may have a negative impact but people will put it aside by saying, we're better off with this person compared to his predecessors or his possible next in line. And if someone criticizes that leader, you will be tagged as anti-government, anti-admin or a supporter of someone corrupt. Or that you are paid to do that. 

And even if it's the action of that person you are criticizing, you will still be tagged the same way when you are criticizing the person. This is where the problem becomes obvious. For many, they are not able to separate persons from actions. No one's perfect they say. True. Then if that's the case, how could you think that the person you are supporting can't make wrong decisions if you believe he's not perfect? Accountability. Have you heard of it? That's where leadership lies upon. If there's none, then there's no leadership.  Let's start discussing the issues isolated from the personalities from now on. Make these things the talking points in choosing our next leaders.

PPPP - Putting politics of personality in place. Let's do it now.

If I'm the LTO Chief

We eat bad news for breakfast. It usually is the case. A quick glance on the news ticker is enough to make one's day the worst. I'm one of them. I feel affected more than I should be, or how I think I am. The moment I turn off the tv and go outside, it's when reality sinks in. Most bad news has little direct effect on me. Though some might have big ones later. But the 2 which has the impact the moment I step out of the doorways are the weather news and traffic report. We can't control the weather. We can only prepare for it. Forecasts are given but still, it can always change. But it's never an excuse not to bring an umbrella when the news says that there will be an incoming storm. It's critical to know what the weather might be the next day.

On the other hand, the traffic. Same with the weather, we don't have power about it. Maybe we have. A little. About how we drive or how early we go up if we are commuting. But it's not that different from what we can do about the climate situation. The way we drive almost have the same effect when we carry boots or umbrellas during the rainy days. Doing either can protect us only to a certain extent. But luckily, unlike the weather, there are powerful people that can work and decide to protect us from the hardships of daily road jam. Whether they are using the power properly or not, that is the question.

I guess, it's high time for the LTO authorities to utilize the power of multimedia. It's very difficult to fix everything but they can definitely focus one by one. But they can learn on how other people do things to promote awareness and discipline. And the good thing here is that, many will surely follow and go with them since everyone is affected with this thing one way or another. And if I have my way, here's what I will do:

1.  Use funds for TV advertisements to focus on the usually neglected but hazardous traffic violations that most drivers commit. Focus on one each week. 

2. Coordinate with the traffic enforcement bodies and let them be on full alert for the violators of the one featured on the said advertisement. 

3. Increase the penalties for the focused violation for that week.

4. The following week will focus on the next traffic violation.

5. Do it for at least three months having been able to cover at least 12 traffic rules that people  neglect, that might be enough to instill some understanding and discipline on commuters and enforcers.

6. There will surely be direct impact felt by everyone if implemented properly. And if it does have, people will notice it and Pavlovian studies will tell that when something good is happening, people will continue to do the same thing as response, hoping for the same results to happen.

Even the daily news include traffic jams on their headline. That's how big the problem is. And we all know it. We all talk about discipline. But discipline won't take us anywhere if we don't know the rules. A disciplined baseball player can't win games in basketball. And vice versa. So let's all get back to the basic.