It’s election season once again. Election day is that one day in three years when the voter is king. Outside of that day, the voter is virtually ignored by the politicians.

Some of the candidates for senator in the coming polls are incumbents seeking reelection.

They were very young when they first ran for office six years ago. Back then, they promised to enact legislation which will once and for all define and outlaw political dynasties.

They were new faces bearing veteran political surnames and they gave the voters the impression that being young means being idealistic. The voters thought these young personalities can do something about the curse political dynasties have visited on this country, a problem past traditional politicians ignored.

Sadly, the voters were mistaken. Upon assuming office, the innocent-looking new senators were absorbed by the patronage politics their parents were accustomed to and became traditional politicians themselves.

In the end, and despite the six years given to them, none of them did anything to rid the country of political dynasties.

Worse, they simply continued the family line in elective public office and became the latest incumbents in a legislative circus dominated by political dynasties.

One relatively young incumbent senator running this year actually anchored his 2013 campaign on a promise to legislate against political dynasties. It looks like the perks of high public office for six years made him very forgetful. Unfortunately, his well-oiled political campaign machinery gives him an edge over other candidates.

Should these candidates be trusted again?

Voters should demand an explanation for the refusal of these erstwhile honest-looking but double-dealing new generation politicians to deliver on their 2013 promise to legislate against political dynasties.

Many of the senatorial candidates have been advertising themselves on television long before the campaign season began. Although the Supreme Court ruled that those pre-campaign season advertisements are not illegal, that is not the point. The point is, if these candidates were already spending millions of pesos on television advertisements before the campaign season began, one can imagine how much more they are going to spend during the campaign season itself.

How is it that these candidates are oozing with money to spend early on? Has it been a very lucrative six years in office for them? Are there many wealthy people who owe these candidates so much that they are willing to bankroll their campaign?

One prominent candidate who was proclaimed senator by the Senate Electoral Tribunal for the 2007-2013 term and who won reelection for the 2013-2019 term, should explain why he is seeking a third consecutive term, when both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution prohibit him from doing so. If he has no respect for the Constitution, what will he respect?

Another senatorial candidate is taking advantage of his recent acquittal by the Sandiganbayan of graft charges, as seen in his television campaign advertisements. The advertisement carries in bold letters the phrase “not guilty” over an aerial shot of the Sandiganbayan building, but conveniently omits the vital detail that the candidate was still required by the anti-graft court to return P120 million to the government.

If this candidate wishes to use the Sandiganbayan ruling in his favor, he should cite it in complete context so as not to mislead the voters.

Another senator seeking reelection has yet to disclose the current citizenship of her spouse who, during the 2016 presidential campaign, told the news media that he was applying for Philippine citizenship. His citizenship may not be an election issue this year, but whether a campaign promise made in the past was fulfilled or not ought to be publicly disclosed by the senator in the interest of transparency.

Many candidates deliver campaign speeches left and right, promising the electorate anything under the sun and in heaven, too, just to get their votes. Precisely for that reason, voters should be discerning enough to know if these candidates are so devoid of any original, feasible ideas as legislators and are simply reciting their political party’s official propaganda.

One such candidate used to be a minion of the former President and now claims to be an ally of the incumbent.

Hopefully, there’s a limit to the garbage voters will be willing to hear from these traditional politicians.