The main character in the 2022 Philippine elections is not the victor but the voter. A citizen’s right to vote is his, but the weight of everyone affected by that one vote should be added to conscience. 

We must unlearn the lie that nothing changes whoever wins the elections, and that it is up to us individually to help ourselves. If that is the case, then why must we elect these candidates? What is their use?

Speaking of use, for what else do we enjoy the democracy we have now, courtesy of our countrymen who 36 years ago ousted a dictator that led the country by means of heartlessness, brutality, and corruption, and left us with debt that up until now the Filipinos are still paying for, only to elect that dictator’s heir. It is a slap and a spat on the faces of those who suffered and fought for the freedom we have today. 

Of the many social media bickering regarding this topic, ancestors and descendants alike, we will see defences of Marcos loyalists saying that his time was the golden era, that the NPAs were the real enemy, that whoever challenged the Marcoses deserved what they had years ago because they were anti government, and the list goes on. These are said by the people who invalidate the hardships of those who didn’t get to enjoy the said golden era because they were too busy working and getting little to no pay. Where empathy is absent, there can never be real unity. Unity is not the answer but rather only a factor in the formula of good governance.

Meanwhile, the camp of presidential frontrunner Bongbong Marcos still sticks with their unity agenda and said that unifying their supporters and those of their rivals will not be a problem. “We have always been offering unity and friendship to all. Dapat tayo, we should rally behind our president elect kung sino man siya,” says spokesman Vic Rodriguez. It has been said that the Marcos camp have already been celebrating their partial and unofficial victory since last night wherein he leads the polls with over 30 million votes. It was reported yesterday that many vote counting machines (VCM) have been defective and are either being replaced or fixed but backups are scarce. Citizens from different areas are concerned where the numbers of votes are coming from as they are not done counting and transmitting of votes. Currently, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a volunteer group that serves as poll watchers and voter’s assistance desk staff across the country, are manually encoding the election returns that will be used to verify electronically transmitted votes. 

The times are teaching us a lesson, and that lesson has not been learned. It seems that the Filipino people have redefined the true meaning of the work done by our government officials and public servants. Credentials, debates, backgrounds, and platforms don’t matter, as long as one has malasakit and is popular with the people. A senator doesn’t have to study the law anymore, he can be an action star and have no relative background to lawmaking and yet be the number one choice of the masses. A president can have the most questionable background and dodge difficult questions, and be expected to fix a whole country’s problems. As news anchor Vicky Morales put it, “This election has written the way elections are won in this country, hindi na kailangan maglatag ng plataporma sa mga debate, hindi kailangan magrant ng mga interbyu, kailangan mo lang ng siguro ng tanyag na apelyido, solid ‘yong machinery mo, social media, and maybe long history in politics.”

There is no excuse for anyone to be unmindful of the stakes in this election. You are who you voted for.