A few weeks ago, the Philippines’ most crucial election happened right before our eyes. This election has got to be one of the most pivotal moments in decades for our country and the first-time young voters are engaging as if their life is at stake—because it is.
A few weeks before May 9, everyone maximized all their time, resources, and energy to campaign for their respective candidates. Some of the working class and students made time to contribute to the fight of their life—the restoration of the Marcoses. Days before the day that will determine who will lead the country, everyone had their episodes of election anxiety. I mean, who wouldn’t be distressed with the thought of our country being ruled by united traditional politicians that came from various long-haul political dynasties? This election seems like our one-time ticket to wash off our government from these greedy and corrupt people, so it is just inevitable to be this scared and brave to fight at the same time. May 9 comes—seems like a judgment day and everyone has their guards up, especially the few volunteer poll watchers for the then-Vice President, Leni Robredo.
During the one-day election until the very last minute of casting the votes, a lot of anomalies and injustices happened already; numerous vote-counting machine (VCM) malfunctions, disenfranchisement of voters, missing ballots, questionable partial and unofficial vote count, missing ballot boxes, and certificate of canvass, and downright vote-buying even during the polling day. On the same day, unofficial votes were being transmitted by Commission on Elections (COMELEC) shortly after the voting time closed and it caused some people to raise their brows as numerous precincts have not yet cast their votes due to the long waiting time for broken VCMs. It was a gloomy day indeed not only for the Robredo supporters but for all people who had hoped for a brighter future. The uncertain future as Marcos is leading the actual votes is starting to cripple everyone’s skin. From this day until now, where recently Marcos-Duterte has been proclaimed already as the official 17th President and Vice President of the Philippines, every critical thinker is having thoughts on staying or leaving the country as the historical distortion—that started long ago under our noses and is being done today publicly such as publishing house that offers martial law books being red-tagged.
With this “unexpected-expected” result, many have mocked and made fun of Robredo’s supporters, especially the youth. For them, it was just some kind of a game—a bet, a race, a competition to boast. But for these youth, it’s their future that they mourn and the past that we failed to preserve. For days, everyone was silent. Everyone lost sight of the light. Everyone felt hopeless. Good thing the leaders that we follow serve from their heart and inspires us to do good against the odds. At Leni Robredo’s thanksgiving event last May 13, she announced that the OVP’s program “Angat Buhay” will be launched as a non-government organization on July 1. This news has given a lot of people a spark to continue fighting for what is right even if they are just the minority. Supporters are now excited as they are willing to volunteer for the said organization and to fight the ongoing disinformation crisis in the country.
This, in fact, is another six years that we’ll have to stay vigilant. We will have to look out for each other and to take care of each other as dark days are yet to come. What will happen within these six years in our country will take effect for the next 50 or 100 years, may it be good or bad… or worst. The battle now is not only being cautious in real life against armed forces but also being red-tagged in the virtual world. We live in a world where information and knowledge are accessible to all of us yet here, we are, moving backward to 1972. Nevertheless, don’t lose hope as it is not the end, but the battle has only begun. We were outnumbered as of now but seeing the youth being greatly involved in politics and social issues as of now, we will expect to have more critical voters for the next generation. “Papunta pa lang tayo sa exciting part.”
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