As of the time between this week’s editorial and the one last week, the campaign period has officially opened for local candidates. The national races have been open for a while, and many of the candidates have been courting your vote far ahead of when they were officially supposed to, but the time is here and now for those we will be under day to day.
Last week, we posed you a simple question: When is enough, enough? We spoke at length about the strain of our city, this city we all share, and endure, about the need to put first the welfare of the environment for once.
Regardless of your answer to this question, it is one of many that we have to ask ourselves come election time. When is enough, enough? What lines are we willing to cross for economic prosperity, what balance of creature comfort versus resource consumption and concrete sprawl will we tolerate?
And now, come election time, the question we must ask is a simple one. Take a look at the lands before you, the city or town you reside in, with all its flaws, and ask: How do we fix you?
That informs the vital decision we must make next, which is: Who do we assign this task of absorbing all our grievances, and converting that into action and policy?
The final slate of candidates has been approved, and unforeseen weirdness aside, we are witness to a slate of six candidates for mayor in Baguio, and seven for the congressional seat. Of these, we can only pick one per seat, and they will have three years to act upon the problems that we face and the problems we will face moving forward.
With such limited time, it can be hard to get the ball rolling for long enough, which is why it is of paramount importance that we pick right, that we pick a set who will address concerns rather than line their pockets with tax money, ones who are competent enough that three years of action will put a dent in decades of problems.
Who must it be, we should ask ourselves. Baguio, who can help us fix you?
