If you had the chance to have the entire Philippines hear what you want to say about the coming elections, what would you write? For one day let’s all blog, tweet and post about our hopes, aspirations, reminders and challenges for the Pinoy voting public.

#DearPH seems like an easy enough project: to find out what it is we want out of the coming May 13 elections, to find out what issues we deem important in making the decision to vote someone into office.

though my tendency is to think in terms of which people i trust. and which ones have a track record that’s unquestionable and consistent when it comes to serving the people, when it comes to imagining that governance and making laws is about the people, still.

this means a clear stand against big business and oligarchs making a killing on our environment or the oppression of our workers. this means a clear stand against the rising cost of basic services and its privatization. this means a very clear stand against the fact that government expects a family of five to live decently on P172 a day, something that makes the current minimum wage larger than it is.

this means, that Dear PH, i would wish that all of us would have a better sense of what our candidates think about the things that affect us daily. i wish we could go beyond TV ads and posters, and even people endorsing certain candidates. i wish that beyond promises these candidates make, we are able to talk about how these candidates have proven they can keep certain promises, and how consistently they take a stand for these issues.

i will not say no to dynasties, but i will say no to candidates who are obviously only running because their names are enough to make them win. i will say no to candidates who have no real track record that is beyond charity work — something that they can do regardless of not being in positions of power.

i will say no to those who are obviously only giving us what we want to hear. i will say no to those who use the idea of being progressive, even when what is in their track record is that of having sold out to government’s whims. i will say no to those whose track records reveal having demolished homes of informal settlers — those who also cradle the cheap labor that government and business live off. i will say no to anyone who refused to be part of the televised debates, because i do not care for anyone who doesn’t care to answer questions.

DearPH, the task really is to find that whichever name we shade on those ballots, is the name of someone we can trust with our lives. and yes, those are very few and far between, but i think it is clear who are worthy of a vote. and who, we must, we should, know to critique and question.

what would you want us to think about for this election? blog, tweet and post about it! tag @Dear PH on your FB posts and use the #DearPH hashtag for your tweets. all notes will be crowdsourced at www.dear.ph for everyone who wants to see the contributions across all platforms.