I was ecstatic at the thought: President Barack Obama.

From my excitement people would think I had voted too, but I'm not American.

I am glad with the idea that with the election of Obama, America has come to its senses. As what the president-elect said in his acceptance speech, this is the dawn of new American leadership.

It's cool to be American again, and in our eyes as foreigners we see that the essence of being American is restored as well as its good relations with other contries. Everyone I know is happy with the results of the election. We followed the news faithfully, and felt anticipation at the announcing of his win. We had goosebumps upon watching his speech.

And my faith in democracy and America is restored.

I still hope that one day we may have the kind of leader who will step up just like Obama. I know he's not messianic, and no leader will be able to cure the ills of the Filipino society. But we need a leader who says no to traditional politics here. We need a leader who will listen to the people and provide the basic needs of citizens. We need a leader who will uphold our rights, but still have the initiative to ask of us our responsibilities. We need a leader who will look forward to the future, not downward to his pockets. We need a leader who will unite the nation.

Obama's election shone a beacon of hope for us, that even here in a poverty-stricken Philippines, we might be able to find someone who's story is just like any other ordinary Filipino citizen, but with enough leadership to take us to a new era in Philippine history.