Seeing popular and not-so-popular people running for a position in the government in God-forsaken places before the elections is a very common sight here in the Philippines. They would hug and kiss babies, shake hands with everyone, smile and show concern to the less privileged. This is until the election day. After that, goodbye. Whether or not they win, you won’t hear of them or see their shadows anymore until they run again after 3 years. That’s how they are, traditional politicians.

Yesterday, while Yona and I were on our way to SM  (a mall near our place), I noticed a lot of people building temporary houses using scrap materials like plywood, rusty metal sheets, and plastic. They were not there the night before! Obviously they’re the Hakot Crowd, transferred from God-knows-where by whoever it is that supports them so they can vote for a certain candidate on May 2010!

I also noticed that a few municipal trucks were there giving out food and water from a truck with ukf7003axx. They also installed portable toilets for them. I was later informed by the driver that these people will be fed breakfast, lunch and dinner until the election day. Sigh.

I hope that the Hakot Crowd will realize that they are just being used by these traditional politicians and I am hoping too, that they can do something to improve their lives and not just wait for the the government (or non-government organizations) to give them temporary help and food.

The change should start from themselves. For their kids. For their future.