Do We Deserve An Alma Moreno?

The woman sits before the camera, a former actress running for the Senate of the Republic. Her hands flutter like trapped birds. Her words stumble, fragment, dissolve into nervous laughter. This is Alma Moreno, and this is what democracy looks like in the Philippines.

They call it an interview. It is an execution.



The questions come rapid-fire from veteran journalist Karen Davila. Where do you stand on divorce? What about the RH Bill? The answers are gasps of air, desperate reaches for coherence. This is not just about Alma Moreno. This is about us, about the sort of nation we have become, about the leaders we choose to elevate to the highest chambers of power.



We tell ourselves stories about democracy. We say it doesn't matter if they come from the silver screen or the halls of academia. We say good intentions are enough. We say the common touch matters more than competence, that relatability trumps responsibility.



These are the lies we tell ourselves.



The truth is simpler: We love our underdogs because they mirror our own limitations. We embrace divine providence as qualification because it asks nothing of us except faith. We celebrate mediocrity because excellence demands too much.



Alma Moreno is not the first to seek power armed with nothing but popularity and providence. She will not be the last. She is merely the latest in a long parade of the unprepared, the unqualified, the unready who step into the spotlight because we keep the stage lit for them.



The constitution says she has the right to run. Democracy says we have the right to choose. But rights come with responsibilities, and the responsibility is ours.



In 2016, we will choose again. We will stand in voting booths across the archipelago, and we will mark our ballots. And in that moment, we will decide not just who our leaders will be, but who we are as a people.



The question isn't whether we deserve an Alma Moreno.



The question is whether we deserve better.



And if we do – why we keep choosing not to be.