Are all politicians truly the same?

The common sentiment amongst Filipinos is that all politicians are the same. “Pare-parehas lang naman silang lahat.” They will all be blinded by the government money they can steal when they finally win the seats. They will all forget their promises during campaign season and just live an extravagant lifestyle when they finally get a seat in the government.

We’re here to debunk this mindset by providing some trends and outliers amongst this notion that all politicians are the same.

Some politicians genuinely care for their voter base

Senator Risa Hontiveros has been fighting for equal opportunities for women and the LGBTQ community ever since she entered mainstream politics. This was her promise during her campaign and now, despite being in the Senate, she has never forgotten her promise. She still continues to fight for the rights of women, who have been abused and oppressed in this country, as well as the LGBTQ community, despite receiving death threats and ridicule for her conviction.

If all politicians truly were the same, Hontiveros would have stopped fighting for women’s and LGBTQ rights once she became a senator. But she didn’t.

Some politicians have demonstrated transparency and accountability

Amidst billion-peso corruption scandals under the Duterte regime, one politician’s public office stands to have received the highest rating from COA, which is a political institution in charge of assessing the fund expenditure of government offices: the Office of the Vice President. In a political era wherein politicians are afraid to even release their SALN, the transparency showed by the OVP has certainly made some believe that not all politicians are the same, after all.

Some politicians have remained brave despite threats to their freedom and life

Former Senator Antonio Trillanes has demonstrated great braveness against certain administrations in the past. During the Arroyo administration, he remained true to his stance and condemnation of corruption despite imprisonment. The same can be said when he was threatened to be arrested by Duterte himself, following his opposition. He has certainly shown that he cares more for the Filipino people than his own life.

These politicians prove that there are certainly outliers to the mainstream image of a politician that most of us believe is the norm.