Yahoo! Philippines Answers blog

It’s official.  US Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama has just been declared the 44th President of the United States, defeating Republican John McCain and becoming the first African-American to hold America’s highest office.

Our very own House Speaker Prospero Nograles has just expressed his congratulations to newly-elect US President Obama and sees an improvement in RP-US relations noting that many Filipino-Americans have supported Obama.  Our news editor also recently posed a question to the Pinoy community and asked them, “Do you think the Philippines’ relationship with the US will change now that Barack Obama is President? Why?”  Please feel free to share your views on this important Pinoy issue in light of the recent events in US politics.

Now, Yahoo! Philippines Answers does not endorse any one political viewpoint (both local and international) but we do recognize the fact that a new US President will surely bring leadership when America and the global economy needs it the most.

The great thing about the 2008 US Presidential elections is how much debate and discussion took place offline and online.  And fortunately for us here in Answers, both Barack Obama and John McCain used Answers as a platform to encourage knowledge sharing regarding their platforms and positions.

Barack Obama posed the question:

How can we engage more people in the democratic process?

The Best Answer, one of over 17,000 that “tremendously impressed” Obama, came from Rebecca W in CA. It began:

“As a parent of 2 teenage daughters, I hear the frustration they share with “rigged class elections, popularity vs. content, etc.” within their own peer elections. I worry that our youth is missing the truth and honor of “personal integrity” and need to learn democratic integrity first from their parents and then from public role models such as teachers, community leaders and elected officials.

The democratic process should begin in the home with active parenting; not passive or dictatorship styles. Active parenting provides a forum to share and to hear ideas, solutions, praise, criticism, etc. as well as an understanding that one’s ideas should always be heard, considered and respected, but not necessarily always taken. This foundation then naturally expands into school where teachers may mirror this type of democratic atmospheres. Additionally, I feel more demonstrative practice is needed within the school system in order for our youth to understand the democratic process on a personalized local level. Washington is far away; OUR community is right in front of us.”

Click here to read the rest of her answer.

John McCain posed the question:

What would you do to stop wasteful government spending in Washington?

The Best Answer one of over 16,700 replies, came from Suthern R:

“Reward federal agencies for coming in under budget and STOP punishing them for saving money. Right now, if a group in the federal government does not spend all the money allotted in the budget for that year, they lose the money and they are further punished by having their budget reduced by that amount the following year. This flawed practice only encourages them to spend any excess monies at the end of the fiscal year to avoid having that money taken away and not getting the same budget the following year.”

Click here to read the rest of his answer.

Now that the 2008 US presidential election is over, let’s all learn from this experience that knowledge-sharing, particularly asking and answering questions, is very important in helping the community in their decision on who best to choose to lead them.  When it’s our turn to vote for the next Philippine President, I hope we get to apply this as well.

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