If you’re a political junkie and religiously follow what’s happening 24/7 locally and internationally, chances are you already need to check your coffee consumption, and please don’t let the first quarter of 2026 pass without visiting your doctor.

Most probably, you think or expect others to think the same way you think, and even believe what you believe. A previous version of me might even agree with you. But that’s a formula for heartache and headache. Either you hate yourself for supposedly knowing everything, or hate others for allegedly knowing nothing. Worse, these are two sides of the same coin.

Depending on your beliefs, you have thought leaders whom you follow and whose views you eagerly watch and share. They influence you a lot, confirm your biases and even your worst doubts, and become your unofficial spokesperson on the national stage. You cheer them on and publicly profess that you would campaign for them if they ever choose to run or campaign for those they would support. Every issue is discussed with 2028 as context. Would it weaken or strengthen a candidate? Would it lionize your champion or demonize your enemy? Would this confirm that the followers of your enemy are even stupider than you once thought, or that you and others are better than them and even God’s gift to the country?

Alas, the thought-leaders are not your spokespersons. You are just their follower. You may not admit it, but you have fallen prey to the tribalism that’s one of the many hallmarks of traditional politics in the Philippines. The politics you follow could be nothing more than cheap talk for or against a traditional politician.

This is quite evident in the predominant political commentaries surrounding the confirmation of charges hearings for the former president. The two or three main factions of traditional politics tackled it as if everything happened solely to determine the fates of certain political candidates between now and 2028. Of course, it is expected that backers of the former president would question the charges and the process, and also cast doubts on the victims and complainants. Neither the administration nor the so-called opposition provided adequate political and moral support to the victims, although both camps are helping each other on other issues, especially in the EDSA 40th anniversary commemoration.

Some or a few may be more supportive of the victims, yes. We should applaud them and encourage them to keep on backing and championing the victims. But they don’t represent the entire political class. They are, in fact, exceptions to the rule. If they prove anything, it is that traditional politics are cheap and unreliable vessels of political aspiration. The aspirations may not be ours or for us.

The brightest or most prominent political analysts, and even the top traditional politicians, could not defend the victims when bad actors tampered with a photo showing some of them in The Hague. They cannot defend them because they don’t know their names.

It is not too late to look for other better thought-leaders and influencers. We used to call such persons “inspirations.” They are people we could look up to, whose ideas and experiences push us to do great things for the country and for others. They may not talk about politics, but in whatever they do, they teach about politics inadvertently. One such person is Alex Eala, who carries the flag literally and figuratively wherever she goes. She may not say it, but she is demolishing barriers for herself and for us, and showing that we could still cheer and believe together. Surely, there are others like EJ Obiena, Hidilyn Diaz, and Carlos Yulo.

There are others still, more “nameless” Filipinos who inspire their communities, neighborhoods, tribes, towns, and cities. They could be farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, jeepney drivers, riders, writers, artists, young ones who think and create innovations, community-based doctors, young professionals who teach about trees or about history, people who rescue animals, and students who perform during festivals, even if the fake grass or concrete pavement hurts the soles of their bare feet. Like Alex, they can amaze and inspire in whichever space they operate, and ultimately educate us about our infinite capacity for solidarity and for greatness.

If your politics makes you sick, depressed, hypertensive, and lose hope about the nation and other people, please pause, rethink, and — seriously — visit a doctor. There must be more to politics aside from being part of the warring fandoms of traditional politics. Look beyond it.