In my line of work, which is development planning, I get exposed to politics. And since I am a government employee occupying a high position at the regional level, I get to talk with and join political leaders in many meetings, seminars and other congregations.

I’ve experienced politics in the national budget process, and politics in sectoral activities such as in education, infrastructure, agriculture, and natural resources.

In fact, I suppose politics is everywhere.

Many believe that this is not a healthy situation. The latest episode, as we all know, is politics in or on the military.

Is politics a bad thing? Should we look at it as a necessary evil in a democracy?

My academic preparation (Political Science) tells me, politics is not an evil, but an opportunity.

To me, politics is people and their leaders exercising their rights in the system of government prevailing in society, which, in our case, is a democracy.

Politics deals with the generation, allocation and use of resources as decided upon by the people directly (by themselves) or indirectly (through the leaders they elect).

I see nothing wrong in politics influencing all the sectors I just mentioned.

Perhaps, the only one that bothers me is politics interfering in the military or the military influencing politics.
But perhaps this is not surprising. This close relationship has a long historical background. The first President of the democracy most Filipinos emulate, that of the United States, was a high military officer - Gen. George Washington.

Politics is, indeed, a very interesting subject matter. I devoted four years of college work at UP Diliman studying its many aspects.