Wishes for the New Year

Today we are at the beginning of a new year, 2025. In one of my recent columns, I highlighted the major events of the past that had history-changing effects on the Philippines and Asia. Today, I want to write on the future of the coming year.

- 

I will not try to predict because there are too many variables that will affect the economy and geopolitics of the year 2025. Instead, I will write about my wish list for different scenarios.

The first of my wishes is that the 2025 midterm elections will finally result in winners that are worthy of being public officials, especially in the Senate and the House. This means that the Filipino electorate will stop voting for entertainers and scions of family dynasties. Surely the time has come for the people to stop voting for movie stars who like to comb their moustache in the middle of a hearing and other celebrities who have no idea about nuances and interpretations of the Philippine Constitution.

The main role of senators and congressmen is to enact laws. The public, however, should see that the main preoccupation of our present legislators is to ensure that they have sufficient pork barrel funds to dispense for the purpose of their reelection.