There is no doubt that until today, the Philippine is a Third World county. This is mainly because it remains a poor economy.In the early 80’s, many Filipinos de­cided to look for a greener pastures in foreign lands, es­pecially in Middle East nations like Saudi Arabia. Hun­dreds of thousands left their minimum-wage jobs to grab work contracts offered by the re­cruitment agencies.

Canadians would have a hard time understanding how elec­tions in the Philippines work. As we have just witnessed again, in the case of the May 12 provincial election here in Brit­ish Columbia, balloting results are known just hours after poll­ing stations close. Winners are declared immediately, losers concede, and life goes on.

Provincial election is fast approaching and this time another Filipino-Canadi­an candidate in the name of Mable Elmore is in the limelight which will possibly lead to an unprecedented achievement that will truly make the Filipinos proud of themselves.  Elmore, a true blooded public service figure which was proven in her numerous credentials, needs our sup­port to be able to fulfill her mission to serve the com­munity of Vancouver-Kens­ington. To be able for her to do that, a lot of things definite­ly needs to be considered. First and foremost, all Filipi­nos living in the said com­munity should exercise their rights to vote. Since workplaces allowed employees to exercise the voter’s rights, as a voter, see to it that you can make ar­rangements to do so.

With a little more than a year to go, the term of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is coming to a close. With the 2010 election on the horizon, there is a lot of speculation that ex-president Joseph “Erap” Estrada may run again for office. The former movie actor was obviously testing the waters with his recent provincial tour, in which media reports indicate that he has been received warmly by the people.