AMERICANS have just over a week to make up their minds and elect their next president.
The candidates could not be more different from one another. On one hand is a lawyer, former first lady, senator and state secretary, knowledgeable, formidable, logical.
On the other hand is a billionaire who has gained notoriety for his unsubstantiated pronouncements
and sexist behavior. He has called his opponent a “nasty woman” and often says she is all talk and no action.
The results will have implications for Filipinos whether or not they have family there: For example, what will Philippine-US relations be like should either candidate win, in the light of our own President Duterte’s articulated statements against the US? Will the US economy respond to political results and how will other economies, including ours, be affected? Will we be any less, or more, secure from terror?
More than these long-term implications, the campaign has been exciting even for us Filipinos because we are no strangers
to personality politics. We follow the debates or read up on the candidates, not so much for their positions on national and global issues but because of their colorful characteristics and checkered pasts.
It’s human nature, perhaps. We here, for instance, earned the President we now have because of his maverick appeal. Rodrigo Duterte won, though not by a majority, because he presented himself to be the stark opposite of the familiar faces in politics who had said too much and done too little.
We are now living with the consequence of the plurality’s choice—and we don’t know yet whether it would turn out to be good or bad. So far the signs have been unnerving: cursing indiscriminately, making enemies of old friends, trash talking just about anyone, hearing the voice of God, for crying out loud.
The choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton seems obvious, but it appears many are willing to take the chance. If only for the implications of electing a caricature, we wish the Americans well, and may their good sense prevail.
