In Search for Senators

The word senator comes from the Latin 'senex' which translates to 'old men'. Roman emperors enlisted  retired magistrates to lend advice on management policies of the kingdom because of the supposed relation of age to wisdom.
I know, I know It's not always true. A know a few of my own relatives who grew old learning everything in reverse.
When monarchies evolved to republics, consequently senators became representatives of the people from mere advisers to kings. Emperors were out of jobs and did not need advisers. Senex, still sought for advise by ordinary citizens, parlayed the demand by creating a cushy job. Their new job was defining the aspirations of citizens in building a just and humane society, thus was born the August Hall.
Centuries later the pork barrel was invented, thus was born scandal.
Philippines in May 2013 holds mid-term elections for Senators. 33 candidates of which 6 are incumbents are vying for twelve seats. 12 are over 60 years old and I guess you can name those tunes.
No, I am not campaigining for the oldies. I am just saying.
So while I really think 50% of the votes cast would depend which party 'buses' the electorate first, I hope there's the other half who would vet candidates. I can lend some of my own views in vetting candidates.
Here is my list.
Criteria
1.Wisdom is a foremost quality the electorate should look for in a candidate.
Wisdom is the acquisition of experience and their applications that result to the greater good. Lack of wisdom can best be illustrated in plagiarism, the act of imitation then letting people think the idea is original. Tsk tsk tsk. Lack of wisdom can also be shown when people respond with "I was unaware" after being caught with their hands on the cookie jar. ( the appropriate repartee would be "Tell me to the marines" he he he). Lastly, there's the classic 'There's no law" when questioned about propriety of action.
Is your candidate wise?
2. Fierce belief in Equality and Freedom.
The beginning and end of legislation is the definition of equality and freedom.When in the past, the candidate pushed for clipping of rights- Martial Law, Cyber crime- then the candidate is not for freedom and equality.
3. Understanding the work.
Most senators think that the Priority Development Fund (PDAF) is 'the' work, so they build farm to pocket roads and distribute money to ghost non government organizations (NGO). Really they should scrap the pork.
Talent in policy crafting is the work. Policies generally tend to negatively impact on a portion of the constituency. The trick is to ensure the positive impact lands on the greater number of the population, instead of the other way around.
A purpose of the election: Cleaning the Senate
One way of looking at the coming election is a window to clean the senate. Stories of fund misuse by ranking bureaucratic leaders abound in this country with a corruption perception index (CPI) of 105 that ties with Mali (seriously?), Kosovo and Mexico although as far as I know, the only successfully prosecuted case is that one of former president Estrada.
Recently, the senate had been fraught with scandals specifically its use or misuse of funds; first the realignment of savings to Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) involving Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile which was later discovered to have been given as additional bonuses to Senators and staff; then followed by the Priority Development Fund (PDAF) reported by the Commission on Audit (COA) to have been poured into non-existent foundations again by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile along with Senator Ramon 'Bong' Revilla and Senator Jinggoy Estrada. The three mentioned senators have terms up to 2016 although they all have relatives running for various positions in the coming election.
Jackie Enrile, gunning for a senate seat, is son of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. Senator Ramon 'Bong' Revilla has wife Lani Mercado running for a congressional seat while his son Jolo is campaigning for governorship for the province of Cavite. JV Ejercito seeking a seat in the senate  is the sibling of Senator Jinggoy Estrada whose father convicted former president Estrada is also running for mayor of Manila.
If it isn't clear, I am suggesting that relatives of officials involved in questionable doings should not be voted into office. Why? Foremost, their clout, once in office would affect the investigations or court proceeding  assuming plunder cases are initiated.
Booting out incumbents
All the senators of the 15th congress are guilty of taking away the freedom of speech when they promulgated the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. So the re-electionists consist of Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Loren Legada, Aquilino Pimentel, Antonio Trillanes and Gregorio Honasan. Special Mention should be given Sonny Angara because his father was a member of the 15th congress, also Cynthia Villar whose husband is Manny. Last but not least, voters should exclude Bam Aquino because his cousin is the president who approved its enactment.
No to Dynasty
We can strive for equality all we want but we won't get there until dynasties are vanquished.
Oligarchs and dynasties share the same vision: to ensure dominance in their field and perpetuate that until 'thy kingdom come', that's equality out the window. Ferdinand Marcos hit on a bright idea to take out the oligarchs that controlled the economy. However, he replaced oligarchs with cronies and kleptocracy. But the greatest harm he set on the Filipinos was unleashing Juan Ponce Enrile.
The electorate take away the power of dynasties and these dynasties cannot protect their economic backers.
Its time for a new order.