Article by B.F.
I am in mourning.
At 1 a.m. the day after the May 9 elections, I stopped watching the live coverage and slept with a heavy heart. I saw how partial and unofficial results from the Commission on Elections showed presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate Sara Duterte on top of the 2022 national elections.
In the morning, the tension online was palpable. Theories emerged, seeking to explain why the gap between Marcos and his rivals was so wide. People were in disbelief, asking how he could lead by so much in such a short time.
Right now, my heart is bleeding. As a media student and the son of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who wish to retire soon, I ask myself: Why would we elect someone who consistently evaded the media? Why would we elect someone whose family emptied the nation’s coffers?
The Marcos-Duterte tandem is unacceptable and wildly undemocratic at best. The patriarchs of both dynasties have shown nothing but disrespect to basic human rights and have led the country into massive debt, all for future generations to pay.
It pains me to see media colleagues unsure of what the press would look like in the next six years, or even more. If Marcos Jr. truly won, he won through disinformation and lies—the exact things media students are trained to combat. Throughout his campaign, Marcos ran away from the media and instead basked in his legion of vloggers.
Marcos Jr. practiced aversion from critical media, showing likeness to his father who took control of news companies and arrested journalists critical of his rule.
During those years, too, Marcos Sr. pushed a generation of workers abroad in search of better pay. His son seems intent on continuing this legacy, as Marcos, Jr. said he would support the newly formed Department of OFWs—a “one-stop shop” to catalyze the exit of Filipino workers.
READ: For OFWs, repatriation is no heroes’ welcome
What we saw in the elections yesterday was only the grand culmination of a well-oiled machinery of massive disinformation networks, outright historical denialism and mass disenfranchisement. The May 9 election was actually decades in the making, merely a step in the Marcoses’ campaign to return to Malacañan.
I woke up at 5 a.m. to clips of presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo’s address to supporters. What I thought was a concession speech was, actually, an assurance to the people that she is still here. I could hear the exhaustion in her voice, but she was clear in saying that the movement she inspired is just the beginning.
Difficult as it may be, we should spare no attention to Marcos faithful who say the opposition already lost and should just accept defeat. This is their loss, too; we all lost. The nation’s elite tricked us to divide ourselves as they head to achieve their own interests.
If Marcos Jr. had truly won, his triumph signals death to our ailing democracy. Filipinos shed blood, sweat and tears to remove their family from power in 1986. Thirty six years later and Marcos Jr. is one step away from the palace. For this, we mourn.
We feared a situation just like this—when Marcos would be presented as a victor and our little light of hope would dim, the fiery spirit ignited in all of us would be doused.
But as easy as it is now to quash our hope, we cannot go silent. Our country is the land where our ancestors mounted long-fought wars against colonizers; where the blood of slain martyrs and heroes flooded the streets; and where the pent up people swarmed Epifanio de los Santos Avenue to oust a condemned dictator.
Now that darkness looms over again, we must stand our ground. We might be tempted to find fault in our cohorts, but we cannot lose focus and shy away from the narrowest target — Marcos and Duterte.
Let us be clear: this election cycle has not ended, and is not the end. All our efforts to defend democracy shall not die in vain. We will not render what we started moot, for history will be the judge of that. Our vigor might die down as we grieve, but we will catch fire yet again.
To those in power who made fools out of the people: shame on you. No matter how much you distort facts, truth will always prevail, and your lies will be buried with you. The people will condemn you and history will remember you as tyrants.
And to the survivors of the Marcos regime, to the victims and their families, my heart is with you. The country may have forgotten, but I am one of millions who will always remember. History will be on your side.
For now, we mourn for the outcome we are shown. We grieve for the broken democracy that welcomed the ousted family back with open arms. But tomorrow, we rise again to reclaim what is rightfully ours.
