It’s as if the Philippines is calling for a cold snap as Filipinos fight tooth and nail for their rights, bets, and pride to whoever wins this election and becomes the country’s new President of the Republic of the Philippines. This election will go down in history.
The longevity of election campaigns, populists think, hinges on how well they make their campaign materials and strategies effective for the majority. It should come as no wonder that the early jump to majority preferences during the pre-campaign time has already stabilized over the 90-day campaign period, with each party’s support firmer and stronger of each of the parties involved. Foremost of which this whole political drama is concerned, each of the campaign team has colluded to deliver several of undisciplined plan executions for the most of this political play.
Let’s start with VP Leni and her team. For the past months, they were already duping the voters. By the time her branding for candidacy was of concerned, she was reintroduced differently. Proving her identity being pink, but her VP is LP, and her campaign team is LP. From that starting point, it therefore appears that she is still a “dilawan”, and that the operation is backed by oligarch’s power executed by some individuals and groups associated with the Liberal Party. In addition, their brand extension is suicidal for the reason that it cannot hold sway together with the majority of VP Leni supporter’s unethical behavior – their elitism, cancel culture, vulgarity and shameful play on corrupting our spiritual beliefs and values as Filipinos. What’s even worse is their black propaganda against their closest rival that they bring into huge gatherings taken hook by their supporters and followers, putting VP Leni in such a mess at every juncture of her campaign.
Senator BongBong Marcos, the second opponent and VP’s closest adversary, has remained untouchable throughout the campaign period. Amidst the defamation and the rancor, he has remained unbothered with his campaign and his call for unity. The countless black propaganda which was thrown before him has nevertheless given the opponents the power to mislead and use them for mind-conditioning, backing up by these media-biases to manipulate and control the public’s mind-set. Yet, by data and by survey, BBM is still the front-runner of the 2022 election. To reach 60 percent of the preference is an unbelievable feat, and there are numerous aspects to consider when conducting such a large number of surveys. Perhaps because the problem is not Marcos himself, but rather the Liberal Party’s ineffective strategies, which have led people to believe that the more this trajectory was felt and seen, the more people realized their true intentions: that they don’t fight for the country, but only for the Marcoses, to prevent the tyrants from regaining power.
More of the Marcoses issues need to be addressed, including alleged ill-gotten wealth, martial law, estate tax, Oxford education. Though loyal supporters constantly claim that there is no enough proof to justify the existence of these concerns, particularly the ill-gotten wealth, our nation is tied to the history of Martial Law and Revolutionism, thus BBM should at least deal with what needs to be attended to. Despite the fact that his cases were dismissed by the court and the Comelec overturned all remaining disqualifications for his candidacy, he should appear. However, in previous interviews, he refused to present solid explanations and even declined Presidential debates, contrary to what VP Leni always emphasized, “that a true leader shows up in the most difficult times.” It is important that these facts be stated whether or not people will hold him accountable.
Marcos’ campaign strategy is one for the books. His large heart and the sincerity of his goal of unification have captured the hearts of all Filipinos. But aiming for togetherness isn’t enough because history has polarized the country. But that doesn’t make him any less capable if he wants to handle the issues at hand; if he can remove the blinders for voters and show us why he should be the next President of the Philippines.
This election cycle is a roller coaster ride. For the past Presidential choices, we never had such majoritarian candidates, and we have never seen a gap so big that runaway is an adjective to describe it. Until this 2022 election came in where many Filipinos banking on the changes that the upcoming presidential election would bring. In this point of no return, we confront innumerable uncertainties. What we do know is that now is the time to speak truth to power, to make the voices of the people heard, and that we have limitless possibilities at our disposal. No amount of disservice must go unrecognized in the face of this political system. There must be consequences for every single falsehood.
By: Gerard Labuca
