Email: alecklim01a@yahoo.com

How can they understand our story if they don’t have the time to listen to us?

Someone says that all politics is local and the economy global. That’s why it is very important that for an aspirant for a national post to win the hearts of grassroots voters he must have a deep understanding of what’s going on in local politics and what the issues that directly affect to the people of that locality are.

Yet many national leaders have failed to understand the concept that all politics is local. As key elections in 2010 are fast approaching, it is expected that politicians from Manila would start to serenade our people in the towns and provinces.

At times we feel their presence is an intrusion into our private lives because they try to connect to us and try to win our electoral support but they hardly exert an effort to understand our story and what we really want.

How can they understand our story if they don’t have the time to listen to us? How can they sympathize to our sentiments when they don’t have the time to come and visit us on a regular basis? It is a one-sided affair when only the elected officials want to be listened to but are not willing to lend ears to their constituents.

In fact, without the holding of a national election, I doubt whether these political figures from Manila would bother to remember the name of our province.

What they don’t realize is that all politics is local. The impact of this concept, if applied correctly, would change the landscape of our governance as our people would then start to feel that they are included in the national agenda of development.

The feeling of alienation between our national leaders and our local voters could have been avoided had the politicians in Manila endeavored to get to know us and listen to our stories.

It is really difficult to establish a strong relationship between these two when those who vowed to become public servants are not making an active effort to reach out the public.

More often than not, there is a persistent miscommunication between the two. It is like a father giving an airplane toy to his son when what the son has been begging from him is a paper boat.

This kind of miscommunication has resulted to senators enacting laws that don’t really address the true needs of our people. Or cabinet members implementing projects that are of no value to the citizens of the country. Which reminds me of the national government releasing a huge budget for fertilizer when no one is planting anything.

In order to bridge the gap between the national leaders and the people in our localities, the former have to step out of their comfort zone (literally it means out of their airconditioned offices) and begin to mingle with their constituents. The late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay had exemplified this style of leadership in which he became a friend to many ordinary folks in the barrio.

Bridging the gap, establishing a meaningful relationship between leaders and their constituents cannot be accomplished overnight. It requires time and patience. No boyfriend-girlfriend relationship can truly bloom if lovers would only meet once in six years. In the same way, Manila politicians cannot build a lasting relationship with the people in the towns and provinces if they can only be seen once every six years.

Since all politics is local and an effective government means the people themselves are actively involved in developmental efforts, dialogues and consultations between national officials and our people must be held on a constant basis.