Comelec reportedly will allow campaign season to begin “early” this
year, around October, before which political advertising would be judged
“premature” and therefore a violation of law. But, come to think of it—is anyone really keeping track?
Political campaigning happens without actual advertising. A person aspiring for political office
need not say “Vote for me” to express his intention. Footage on television or in movie houses showing him/her in
a favorable light—for example, as “champion of the masa”—tells the public “I am
worthy of being a public servant; remember me in 2016.” Keeping a high profile, frequent
appearances in talk shows or media fora, or even glowing words of praise from
his/her friends all constitute indirect campaigning. Even seemingly amusing but snide remarks in social media
aimed at potential rivals are in a way advertising of a kind—like allusions to
a rival’s tarnished reputation or lack of experience.
In this light, I find very timely what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said
to the Parliament in Berlin on September 22, 2011. He began by recounting the story of King Solomon when God
invited him to make a request, on his accession to the throne. Would the young king ask for success,
wealth, long life, or the destruction of his enemies? Solomon chose none of the above, and instead asks for a
listening heart that he may govern God’s people and discern between good and
evil.
Benedict said that through this little story “the Bible wants to tell us
what should ultimately matter for a politician. His fundamental criterion and
the motivation for his work as a politician must not be success, and certainly
not material gain. Politics must be a striving for justice, and hence it has to
establish the fundamental preconditions for peace.”
Quoting St. Augustine, “Without justice, what else is the State but a
great band of robbers?” Benedict
went on to say that power divorced from right could turn politicians into a
“highly organized band of robbers, capable of threatening the whole world and
driving it to the edge of the abyss. To serve right and to fight against the
dominion of wrong is and remains the fundamental task of the politician. At a
moment in history when man has acquired previously inconceivable power, this
task takes on a particular urgency. Man can destroy the world. He can
manipulate himself. He can, so to speak, make human beings and he can deny them
their humanity. How do we recognize what is right? How can we discern between
good and evil, between what is truly right and what may appear right? Even now,
Solomon’s request remains the decisive issue facing politicians and politics
today… How would it be if we, the law-makers of today, were invited to make a
request? What would we ask for? I think that, even today, there is ultimately
nothing else we could wish for but a listening heart—the capacity to discern
between good and evil, and thus to establish true law, to serve justice and
peace.”
Solomon’s story is a gentle reminder during these times of mudslinging
and preening that it’s never enough to have professional competence,
cleverness, years of experience, popularity, or even a good reputation. A listening heart is at the core of the
matter—particularly when the heart listens in silence. And that’s the truth.
