"Philippines is not poor. It is plundered by its own unpatriotic people..."

Why is that we, Filipinos, live in a democratic country and still end up with shamelessly corrupt government officials? Devouring our country's funds that are supposed to be for its people, for public services to be exact. The answer is quite simple, most of the voters are what we call the "low-information voters" or the individuals who vote but are generally poorly informed about political issues and the candidates (Longley, 2021). They often have moderate ideological views, are less likely to vote, and tend to vote for candidates they find personally appealing.

Our beloved country, the Philippines, remains affected by the practices of corruption, as proven by its poor appearance in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International. In last year's ranking, the Philippines placed 114th out of 180 countries. This underperformance underscores persistently weak governance and ongoing economic harm from corruption. The impact of corruption in the country's economy is startling. The Department of Justice estimates that corruption consumes approximately 20% of the Philippines' annual budget which translates to roughly 1.6 trillion pesos in losses annually (Punongbayan, 2024).

Corruption remains "pervasive in all branches of government and in the wider public sector" in the Philippines as recently expressed by a UN (United Nations) committee (Lee-Brago, 2025). Corruption is the reason why this country never experience real progress and change. Why settle for this awful governance when the power to change our nation is in our hands? VOTE WISELY.

One well-educated and politically aware voter can be the stepping stone towards a free-corrupt country. Let us all BE POLITICALLY AWARE. BE THE RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN THAT WE ARE. TAKE ACTION FOR THE BETTERMENT OF OUR NATION!⚖️✊