“Moving forward, we need to ask questions.”
Now that the dust has started to settle in perhaps the country’s most hotly contested elections in recent memory, we can now begin to assess the political situation in a dispassionate manner, and therefore begin to see what should be the new administration’s priorities in addressing the many challenges we now face as a nation.
But first, maybe we should point out what’s good about the latest polls. We know that free and fair elections offer an opportunity for peaceful change to take place. And the Commission on Elections has done a good job in making the necessary preparations for this crucial political exercise. Despite glitches here and there, the voting proceeded smoothly in many places.
We took less than 15 minutes, for instance, in casting our vote in Quezon City from the time we reached the polling place to the time we stepped out of the room where we filled up the ballot, handed it over to the staff so he could feed it into the Vote Counting Machine (VCM), and later had our right forefinger squirted with indelible ink as proof that we had completed the voting process.
The actual voting, however, is only the first step. More important is the correct counting and tallying of votes. That’s where the automated election system (AES) has proven its worth since the 2010 elections despite questions raised about its accuracy and possible vulnerability to hacking. We hope that in this election, the results truly reflect the sentiments of the people.
Moving forward, we need to ask questions.
Will the change in administration lead to a better future for the nation, or a bleaker one?
Will the new administration be able to chart a new course for democracy in this country, or set it back with the return to the old ways?
The campaign period witnessed division of society along partisan lines. The two main contending parties differed in their analysis of the country’s problems and ways to solve these problems.
We have a new beginning for the nation that does not necessarily bode well for the future of our already fragile democracy.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has consistently topped pre-election surveys. But critics fear that he could open up another dark chapter in the country’s contemporary history reminiscent of the 14 years of martial law that ended with the 1986 EDSA People Power and sent the Marcos family fleeing into exile in Hawaii.
After all, Marcos Jr. has said he has nothing to apologize for amid allegations of human rights violations, such as torture and enforced disappearances by state security forces, under martial law. He has also denied that the family obtained any ill-gotten wealth, despite the recovery by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) of a substantial amount from Swiss bank accounts and the sale of corporations believed to have been owned by cronies of Marcos Sr. on his behalf.
The Marcos campaign also propagated the line that the martial law regime from 1972 to 1986 led to the country’s Golden Age where phenomenal economic growth took place.
The historical revisionism was accompanied by what the camp of his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, described as a massive campaign of disinformation and misinformation against her through various social media platforms and in traditional media to portray her as incompetent and unqualified to lead the country.
Once Marcos Jr. assumes office as president, he must reassure Filipinos that he will uphold human rights, tolerate dissent, and work towards inclusive and participatory democracy.
He has said he would support the continuation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). If that means all-out war against armed rebels, that could also mean innocent civilians getting killed in the crossfire, and human rights abuses in the course of all-out war against those who have taken up arms to fight for an end to poverty and injustice. If that’s what’s likely to happen, will Marcos Jr. emerge, like his father, as the biggest recruiter of the NPA at this time?
The prospect of another member of the Marcos family assuming the reins of power 36 years after the ouster of Marcos Sr. through EDSA People Power in February 1986 sends chills of apprehension down the spines of those who survived martial law.
Can Marcos Jr. be a healing president who is willing to reach out to his most vocal critics and try to find common ground?
Or will he unleash the sword of war against those who stand in the way of his policies and plans and emerge as another authoritarian leader who will not hesitate to use force to achieve political objectives? After all, he will be in full control of the armed forces and the police when he starts his term.
Marcos Jr. has declared that he considers himself as Machiavellian. Does that mean he would want to be feared rather than loved by Filipinos?
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