With great power comes great responsibility.” These are the famous words from one of the best-selling movies of all time – Spider-Man. Spider-Man is one of the world’s most recognizable and popular superheroes. Every day is a challenge for him. And obviously, he always stands up to be the good guy – beating all the evil villains who plan to take over the world. But his biggest challenge is not the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, or Venom. It is taking control over his powers. Whenever he made a tough decision, it was always the mild-mannered Peter Parker within him who prevails, not the Spider-Man who possesses enormous powers.

In today’s factual world where no building-hopping, bulletproof, skydiving, web-producing, and masked superhero exists, we all possess powers. Power, in our case, as defined by Mr. Webster, is the capacity to do something. Sadly, we are not aware of how much power we have. This great power comes in the form of a vote or the act of choosing an apt candidate. More often than not, we tend to put the wrong people in the wrong positions. And why is this? We often have the propensity to be blinded and never really see the truth that is in front of our noses.

Vote. A simple four-letter word and yet one cannot deny the complexities it brings about especially in the Philippine setting. The elections are here again and just like the season of Christmas, it requires heaps of spending – for the candidates that is. This is supposed to be the time when we, as citizens of the Philippines, get the chance to exercise our right to suffrage and to express our desires.

Even at my age, I think I’ve already been exposed to what the elections really are. In reality, this is the one time politicians get to extravagantly spend millions and millions, even engaging into desperate measures like vote buying and  bribery to win. And when they are seated in their positions they now begin to steal tenfold of what they have lost during the campaign process. That is what I have come to know of the elections. And this is also the same reason why we must be well aware of the people trying to win our votes. One single vote says it all. This is our right and privilege. Let us not put it to waste.

During the campaign, the air is full of speeches. It is also the other way around – the speeches are full of air. We always want to vote for the best man, but the problem is, he is never a candidate. And it doesn’t take a genius to know that. But still amidst all the campaign posters, jingles, and handshakes, one question lingers – who will we vote for? Some of us have already made up our minds but still there are some people out there who haven’t made their decisions yet.

In my 15 years of living in this city, I have learned a lot of things. Valuable things I would not have learned anywhere else, and though I am young, I also have my own say about the elections. Let’s see, if I were 18 years old and registered to vote, whose name will I scribble on my ballot?

First, I would vote for a man of greatness. A man would be great primarily because of his achievements and success in life. But take note, the greatest leaders in history were great because they were able to make the little people feel great. And that, I believe, is the true essence of greatness. It is how one could humble himself and put others’ welfare ahead of him. A perfect example of this would be our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. His greatness was more than that of being an educated man and a gifted writer. He was able to lift up his once inferior countrymen and make them feel great. He was able to open their eyes to the realities happening in their own nation. That feat spelled out  Rizal’s greatness.

Second, I would be in favor of a man of influence. Just as John Maxwell, the author of numerous books on leadership, explains it, “He who calls himself a leader and looks back only to find out that no one is following him is not at all a leader.” We need a leader who could make us believe in his efficiency.

Who could make us follow because that is what leaders do, they lead. Leadership is basically a question of influence, and in our case, we need a man of positive influence – one who is not just there for the fame and fortune, as the saying goes, “a man fights harder for his own interests than his rights.” We know very well what our government leaders do, they are most likely to let their minds fester on its propaganda-filled environment and prey on the ignorance of their own people. We don’t want a man like that.

We want a man who is willing to go the extra mile and who understands and does something about the plight of the poor. We need a person who is sensitive to the needs of the youth and who will speak for them. Where do you see the typical youth of our nation? He doesn’t attend school. He is engaged in drugs and alcoholism. And even worse, he fathers a child. They stand at every corner of every block wishing they were someone else. We cannot deny having to bear witness to these things and doing nothing about it. We want a leader who will act towards the welfare of the youth and influence them to be assets of this country.

Lastly, I would vote for a man of courage and valor. I want a man who would stand up for what he believes is right. A man of conviction, one who doesn’t  easily give in to temptation, a man who is in full knowledge of the art of being the master of his “self” and not its slave. Every day our nation faces great losses due to corruption. Fact is we loose more than a hundred million pesos daily. Only a few of our government officials have the courage to stand up to this deed and put a stop to it. And ironically, the sad truth is that 90 percent of our politicians who hold positions in the government are graduates of church-based institutions.

The way I see it, we are in dire need of politicians who are against corruption. Corruption is the root of all our problems. Just like poverty, unemployment, lack of schools, and so on and so fort – all of these are related to corruption. Is this what the Philippines is becoming? It is branded to be among the top of Asia’s most corrupt countries. Sometimes I wonder what more could we get from this country. Our nation is drowning in a pool of unpaid debts and broken promises. Each newborn citizen already owes a total of P40,000 to the World Bank. This should not be happening, not today, not tomorrow, and not ever.

Ultimately, voters of this land have the power. One vote could move mountains. That is why voters must think hard of whom they would vote for. The challenge stands before us. Let us, henceforth, band together and form a beacon of light. The country needs us. Let us start acting towards our new goals at this very moment. And as we take closer steps towards our goals, let us be reminded that, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

The author is an incoming senior at the Saint Louis University Laboratory High School. She is an avid reader and also enjoys writing. She has also won several contests in essay writing and public speaking