The three greatest industries in the Philippines are: politics, politics and politics.

People can talk about politics till dawn (and the gin bottle emptied) but cannot even recite the Ten Commandments or remember the birthdates of their children. It is obsessive politics where politicians kill one another in order to serve the public they will steal from.

Before SWS released the recent survey results, there were two schools of thought.

One school of thought decreed that machinery, like what GMA did in 2004, can outlast popularity (of FPJ). Whether "machinery" includes the trappings of cheating is for you to discern.

The other school of thought says popularity, more than machinery, is a reality like when Erap Estrada trounced the vaunted machinery of Jose de Venecia in 1998, including the psywar tactics of tobacco-munching man Fidel V. Ramos.

The SWS survey has shown that the Filipino electorate today is maturing with the machinery being taken as a given but the electorate will still choose the men with a good image and a known platform over the so-called "command votes" of the local kingpins.

This is especially true in the senatorial polls, where despite the cocky assurance that the administration has "got all the bases covered" with a preponderance of local candidates, the Filipino people have not moved much from an 8-4 to 9-3 ratio in favor of the Opposition based on all forms of survey, including that of the Palace.

The Filipino people are not that stupid to vote 12-0, either way for the Team Unity or the United Opposition. And the administration is not that brain-damaged as to cheat its way to a 12-0 sweep anywhere only to damage the credibility of the elections.

That is far worse than actually losing the elections.

Vote-buying and black propaganda, either party can resort to.

Far from the maddening crowd, the election fever has drowned the fact that rural Bohol folks are hungrier today than most parts of the years, partly because the dry spell sabotaged their March and April harvest by 40%. In their vulnerability due to abject poverty, they can fall prey to vote-buying, especially at the local level.

Civic-minded citizens and the church should keep on reminding the poor and the destitute, that the candidate who buys his vote will eventually steal coffers from government to recoup his expenses. Not all the time perhaps, but in majority of cases.

In this most expensive election for 2007, the buyer price per voter has gone up to P2,000 - how vulgar can we really get now?

The COMELEC, true, may not have that kind of manpower and logistics to run after these vote buyers all the time. That is the reason why the Church will have to play a pivotal role in educating the minds of the clueless voters.

The Church must not be deterred by criticism that there is a separation of the church and state and the church must have scotch tapes on their mouths during election time. We disagree vehemently - for every human activity - including politics - has a moral dimension and therefore the Church must speak.

They speak of the churchmen or priests as having as much spirituality as a Hallmark Christmas card (which is nothing) and therefore they have no right to talk politics because they are merely turned on by power and not piety. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The gospel of liberation attests to that.

Black propaganda is the other negative element. Just recently the Genuine Opposition was hit by allegations from the opposite camp that money was released by their equivalent of Imperial Manila headquarters - but such funds were kept in lock and key away from the local opposition leaders by the national officers.

The point was obviously to demoralize the morale and sow distrust for the opposition elders - which would make the local players easy preys for political conversion or coercion. Will their knees buckle from pressure?

But bravery, like cowardice too, is infectious.

The Filipino voters must not be cowed into submission to a "command vote" because only beasts and slaves can be forced to do anything against their will. He must remember the adage of "sell votes now, suffer later" philosophy whose logic is as disarming as its practicality not debatable.

People with serious miens and devout oracles will promise you to surrender your freedom of choice to them in exchange for a promise of bread in the future. One such man by the name of Ferdinand promised the people years ago and the nation ended up with neither bread nor freedom. It is straight from history books.

The choice is still in your hands, Mr. Electorate, don't surrender that basic right to any one because you have 16 days to evaluate your range of choices from councilors to senators of the republic. Think deeply and pray for the right choices.

The scenario is clear enough. A saint who does not have knowledge of governance and common sense has better chances in running for a Vatican post. He can't be an effective public official. On the other hand, a hotshot bureaucrat with power economics in his laptop, but bereft of integrity, will lead us surely to the road of perdition. Competence and integrity are musts.

Somehow, somewhere - the electorate must put a stop to our politics of "prosperity without honor" and "wealth without equity" or "fame without responsibility."

Surely, when God the Creator made man on the sixth day - He gave us all body, soul and spirit to prove that man does not live by bread alone.

In the end, selling your soul and mind in order to comfort your body will catch up with you. Look at what is happening to our nation.

In your discernment, is there perhaps a strong correlation between our being the most corrupt nation in Asia and having our being one of the poorest?

Think about that. And vote with your conscience on May 14. Shalom.