Who are you voting for?

Five months to go before the May 2010 elections. Who are you voting for President?  What qualifications are you looking for in a political candidate? Do you now have a lineup of candidates in mind?  Common questions but quite tough to answer and defend if you don't know the political backgrounds of the candidates.  Unless we search high and low to know about these candidates' achievements (or non-achievements), our basis for voting would merely be limited to personal assumption and judgment via popularity and the candidates' perceived reputation in the media.   It's hard to judge and vote without concrete facts. 

I spend time watching mostly political news on TV and reading political stories online and in broadsheets but I myself am not yet decided who to vote for.  I don't feel like I know enough who among the candidates are deserving of the Filipinos' votes.   How can I make a smart decision if I only know the candidates' faces and names but not their political achievements and moral background?

I wouldn't want to waste my right to suffrage with wrong choices of candidates.  I don't want to send goons and crooks garbed in barongs to the House of Congress and the Senate.  I don't want to be an accessory in sending leaders to Malacanang whose real intention is to abuse their power.   I don't want to be used by trapos and contribute to the growing political dynasties in the country.   I need to be informed so I could make the right choices (that's in the hope that there won't be any election rigging).

If you know of any website where we could see profiles of the May Elections' candidates or even write-ups (current or otherwise) by the media regarding them, kindly leave the links in your comment.   I intend to display here links of informative and credible websites that could help the Filipino voters choose their candidates well.   So far, I've found one - politicalarena.com which says they're in partnership with the Comelec.  You can see there the list of candidates and their profile. You may also throw questions for them to answer.   I noticed though that their candidacy status is not updated.  Anyway, go over to the site and see what's brewing.  You can post your personal views there about the candidates and the electoral process in general.

Check it out and be a well-informed voter.