As the May 12 midterm elections approach, the campaign season in Negros Oriental — and throughout the country — is reaching its final stretch.
By now, many voters have likely made up their minds, their choices shaped by months of rallies, advertisements, public debates, and door-to-door encounters. Yet, there remains a slice of the electorate still waiting, perhaps for one final sign of clarity. For them, the days ahead are crucial.
Unfortunately, as in elections past, the final days have also brought with them a familiar and regrettable descent: the shift from issue-based campaigning to personal attacks, from platform-building to mudslinging. What began with promises and plans has, for some, devolved into name-calling, half-truths, and sensational accusations hurled over the airwaves, and splashed across social media timelines.
What’s worse is the weaponization of media — not by seasoned professionals, but by some self-proclaimed “journalists” who blur the line between news and opinion, fact and innuendo. Their outputs, dressed as journalism, are often nothing more than poorly- disguised smear campaigns.
In a Province that has long prided itself on its civility and intelligence, this is not just disappointing — it’s dangerous.
Is this what campaigning in Negros Oriental has become? Is this how we now decide who earns the public trust?
We must reject this path. Elections should not be won by the loudest slander or the dirtiest tactic, but by the candidate’s record, competence, and character.
Voters should ask: Who has delivered? Who knows our communities — not just in maps, but in lived experience? Who has the patience to listen, and the will to act?
In these final days, let us not allow noise to drown out reason. Let us choose leaders who lift, not tear down. Let us vote not out of fear or hate, but out of hope and discernment.
The future of Negros Oriental deserves no less.
