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I recently chatted with an Overseas Filipino Worker in The U.S, he gave me the green light to write the interview, but only permitted his first name to be written. It was a quick interview, that I got on tape, so here it is without commercial.

Nick: did you register to vote
Agapito: Ay, you know politics in Philippines is always the same. Everyone is corrupt and now they want us to vote. I’m not registered, no.

Nick: But why didn’t you register?
Agapito: Pareho lang nman yan, if it’s this guy or that guy, they will still steal our money. Mabut na nga, I’m here in The U.S. Tapos, look at Gloria now, trying to tax everything. I feel sorry for our kababayans as well as my family there in The Philippines.

Nick: Now, I know that you feel this way, but don’t you think it’s your responsibility to vote?
Agapito: But why vote, when the same results will take place. In years, I haven’t seen a candidate worth voting for.

Nick: Ok, so who was the last candidate that you voted for?
Agapito: Well, noong first time nag run si Raul Rocco. I think many of us, including me, here in our Filipino Community here in The U.S really liked Rocco. I think that his record was good, his stand on education was good, but most of all I think I trusted him the most.

Nick: So, you mean the number one thing that you look for in a candidate is trust?
Agapito: Well, yes. i think that’s what you should always look for. If we can’t trust someone, then what good does it do me if he or she is good in management, economics, or even politics. If he’s good in these things, then maybe he will also be good at using these talents for his own gain. Gloria for example, very smart, but uses her intellect for her own selfish reasons.

Nick: OK, fair enough, but what about the individual candidates in the elections. Surely, you would vote for Loren Legarda or maybe Joker Arroyo?
Agapito: I don’t know all the candidates, but I think maybe yes, maybe one or two is good, but that’s it. Will it make a difference if I vote for one, when the entire government is made up of so many people. I mean it’s just too much.

Nick: what do you mean too much?
Agapito: too much corruption, too much selfishness, too much killings, too much poverty.. how can one candidate do all these things, it seems no one cares. Once they are in office, it looks to me like they become another person. I trusted Gloria, and I trusted many other candidates, but all, all of them have disappointed. Not one candidate so far has delivered, and I don’t expect them to deliver any time in the future.

Nick: It seems you have a negative outlook on our government?
Agapito: Well yes, after all the things I’ve been through since the Marcos era, I think we are moving backwards instead of forward. I talk to my family a lot in The Philippines, and I always hear the same thing. I watch Filipino news, and I always hear the same thing. I think we can move forward, but only if we don’t mess around. Right now, there are a lot of officials that do not wish for a better Philippines, just a better payday or a better lifestyle for themselves. They are selfish.

Nick: Will you stay in America or go back?
Agapito: Honestly, I’m already trying to do my best to bring more and more of my family here to America. There is just too much opportunity that is available here and that is not available in The Philippines.

Nick: What opportunity exactly?
Agapito: Well, I know a lot of people that make a better living doing menial jobs than what most doctors, nurses, or professionals get in The Philippines. That to me is just sad.

Nick: Well, getting back to the current elections, do you think the voters are getting better?
Agapito: I think the voters are doing better, maybe because they are getting better informed. The news is better also when they bring information. But what good does it do our voters if they are getting smarter, but the caliber of candidates are as corrupt as they were in the Marcos era? To me, maybe the voters aren’t the problem, maybe it is the candidates.

We continued a little more afterwards, but I could already tell that Agapito seemed like the typical overseas Filipino Worker, with a great negativity in our elected officials. He has hope for our country, but that hope seems to be hurt when, as he says, the caliber of candidates are lacking in ethics.