In today’s issue of the Inquirer, Manuel Quezon III ended his column:

And yet, the overwhelming number of our people stubbornly insist on political solutions to economic and social problems: the ballot remains the magic bullet. For its adherence to this view, the public is portrayed as either selfish, or silly, or even suicidal. But what if the people are right? And those insisting on the other solutions are wrong? As Rizal asked, what then?

What then, indeed? Unfortunately, the magic bullet called ballot has long lost its magic. It is laudable that the people believe in the power of the ballot, of choice. However, the reality of the times shows that this belief – that the people has a choice – has long been subverted several ways, with the people always being the loser.

One, the case of the 2004 elections shows that anyone who has the machinery and the guts (or kapal ng mukha, if you’re inclined to call it as such) can manipulate the outcome of the electoral process, subverting the choice of the people. And with the system of electoral protest/appeal stacked in favor of the so-called winner, the electoral system has become a joke of a democratic process. What then should the people, whose choices were not heard, should do?

Two, the gullibility and susceptibility of the people to guns, goons, and gold – the 3Gs of elections – partially negates the view that an election is the voice of the people. That the people can easily be influenced to choose against their own will, or maybe because of their indifference, make the elections lose its credibility. What then?

It has now become a myth, the power of the ballot.

What then, is the solution to this injustice? Probably none, unless the people themselves realize that clinging to ideas that are clearly and obviously not working is not the solution to their problems. They choose to live in this delusion. I now pose this question: what if the people is wrong? What then?