political issues in the philippines 2022 essay brainly

Why the 2022 Philippines election is so significant

There are 10 candidates vying to replace Rodrigo Duterte as president, but only two really matter.

The Philippines goes to the polls on May 9 to choose a new president, in what analysts say will be the most significant election in the Southeast Asian nation’s recent history.

Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte leaves office with a reputation for brutality – his signature “drug war”  has left thousands dead and is being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) – economic incompetence, and cracking down on the media and his critics.

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Duterte has also been criticised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed at least 60,439 people in the archipelago.

There are 10 people battling to replace him, but only two stand a chance of winning.

The first is frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr, popularly known as “Bongbong” and the namesake of his father, who ruled the Philippines as a dictator until he was forced from office and into exile in a popular uprising in 1986.

The second is Leni Robredo, the current vice president and head of the opposition, who has promised more accountable and transparent government and to reinvigorate the country’s democracy.

“This election is really a good versus evil campaign,” University of the Philippines Diliman political scientist Aries Arugay told Al Jazeera. “It’s quite clear. Duterte represents dynasty, autocracy and impunity. Robredo stands for the opposite of that: integrity, accountability and democracy.”

What happens on election day?

Some 67.5 million Filipinos aged 18 and over are eligible to cast their vote, along with about 1.7 million from the vast Filipino diaspora who have registered overseas.

Polling stations will open at 6am (22:00 GMT) and close at 7pm (11:00 GMT). The hours have been extended because of the coronavirus pandemic and the need to avoid queues and crowds.

Once the polls close, counting gets under way immediately, and the candidate with the most votes wins. There is no second round so the name of the new president could be known within a few hours. The inauguration takes place in June.

As well as the presidential race, Filipinos are choosing a new vice president – the position is elected separately to the president – members of congress, governors and thousands of local politicians including mayors and councillors.

Politics can be a dangerous business in the Philippines and there is the risk of violence during both campaigning and the election itself.

In one of the most horrific incidents, dozens of people were killed and buried by the roadside in 2009 by a rival political clan in what became known as the Maguindanao massacre .

Who is in the running for president?

Opinion polls suggest Marcos Jr remains in the lead although Robredo appears to be closing the gap.

The 64-year-old dictator’s son attended the private Worth School in England and studied at Oxford University – Marcos Jr’s official biography says he “graduated” but the university says he emerged with a “special diploma” in social studies.

He entered politics in the family stronghold of Ilocos Norte in 1980, and was governor of the province when his father was forced out of power and democracy restored.

In 1992, he was elected to congress – again for Ilocos Norte. Three years later, he was found guilty of tax evasion, a conviction that has dogged him ever since but does not seem to have hindered his political career.

Marcos Jr was elected a senator in 2010, and ran unsuccessfully for the vice presidency six years later when he was pipped to the post by a resurgent Robredo.

On the campaign trail, Marcos Jr has talked of “unity” but has provided little detail on his policies and has avoided media interviews and debates.

His running mate is Sara Duterte-Carpio , Duterte’s daughter, who took over as mayor of Davao City from her father and is leading the field for vice president.

Robredo is the current vice president and a human rights lawyer who got into politics in 2013 after her husband – a government minister – was killed in a plane crash.

She threw her hat into the ring at a relatively late stage, and has relied on a network of pink-clad volunteers to win over voters across the archipelago.

Thousands have turned out for her rallies, some of then standing for hours in their hot sun waiting to hear the presidential hopeful speak. Robredo, whose running mate is Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, is running on a platform of good governance, democracy and an end to corruption.

Other candidates include champion boxer Manny Pacquiao , Manila mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, and a former police chief Panfilo Lacson.

Why would a Marcos victory be controversial?

Ferdinand Marcos became president of the Philippines in 1965, winning over Filipinos with his charisma and rhetoric, and taking control of a country that appeared at the time to be one of Southeast Asia’s emerging powerhouses.

Backed by the United States, Marcos won a second term in office in 1969, but three years later he declared martial law claiming the move was necessary to “save” the nation from communists.

For the next 14 years, he ruled the country as a dictator.

More than 3,200 people were killed – their bodies often dumped by the road side as a warning to others – and even more tortured or arbitrarily jailed, according to the US academic and historian, Alfred McCoy.

Marcos’s biggest rival, Benigno Aquino, was assassinated as he got off a plane at Manila airport.

The killing shocked Filipinos at a time when they were increasingly angry at the corruption and extravagance of the Marcos regime. Even as many lived in poverty, the Marcos family bought properties in New York and California, paintings by artists including impressionist master Monet, luxury jewellery and designer clothes.

Transparency International estimated in 2004 that the couple embezzled as much as $10bn during their years in power, and Imelda , Marcos’s wife, has become a byword for excess.

But since the former dictator’s death in Hawaii in 1989, the Marcos family have sought to rehabilitate themselves, trying to portray the dictatorship as some kind of golden age.

In 2016, Duterte allowed Ferdinand Marcos to be buried in Manila’s heroes cemetery, complete with a 21-gun salute .

Now the Duterte family is allied with the Marcos one, and their bid also has the support of other politically influential dynasties in a country where blood ties are more important than any political party.

“The meteoric resurgence of the Marcoses is itself a stinging judgement on the profound failures of the country’s democratic institutions,” academic Richard Javad Heydarian wrote in a column for Al Jazeera in December. “Decades of judicial impunity, historical whitewashing, corruption-infested politics and exclusionary economic growth has driven a growing number of Filipinos into the Marcoses’ embrace.”

Many worry the election of Marcos Jr, particularly if Duterte becomes vice president as widely expected, could herald a new era of repression.

“The two are the offspring of two strongman rulers,” Arugay said. “Can we expect restraint and inclusive government? You don’t need to be a political scientist to answer that question.”

Earlier this week, some 1,200 members of the clergy of the Catholic Church endorsed Robredo and Pangilinan describing them as “good shepherds”. At least 86 percent of Filipinos are Catholic.

“We cannot simply shrug, and let the fate of our country be dictated by false and misleading claims that aim to change our history,” they said.

Will the result be accepted?

When Marcos Jr lost the vice presidential race by 263,000 votes in 2016, he challenged the result in court.

With the stakes much higher this time around, some analysts worry he could do so again if Robredo manages to pull off a victory.

The role of social media

Filipinos are avid users of social media and the platforms have played a key – and divisive – role in the election, intensifying the more toxic elements of political campaigning.

Marcos Jr and his team have been accused of using – and abusing – online platforms.

In January, Twitter suspended more than 300 accounts promoting his campaign, which it said breached rules on spam and manipulation.

Joshua Kurtantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations says Marcos Jr has also benefited from “the legacy of Duterte, who fostered the spread of disinformation and made it easier for another strongman to win”.

Senatorial race

While all eyes are on the presidential race, it is worth keeping an eye on the senate, too.

Leila de Lima, who has spent the past five years imprisoned in the national police headquarters in Manila after questioning Duterte’s drug war, is campaigning for office again.

The opposition senator is hopeful she may soon be released after two key witnesses withdrew their testimony .

De Lima was the target of vicious, misogynistic attacks by Duterte and his supporters before she was charged in 2017 with taking money from drug lords while she was justice secretary in the government of the late Benigno Aquino III .

De Lima has denied the charges and Human Rights Watch has said the case is politically motivated.

What Happened in the Philippine Elections?

Against the backdrop of the pandemic and an adversarial campaigning period, counting is almost complete and indicates a likely return for the Marcos political dynasty in the Philippines with the election of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. His father, overthrown in a 1986 revolution, is remembered as a dictatorial ruler accused of corruption, kleptocracy and brutality. 

In the wake of the election, International IDEA and the University of the Philippines Department of Political Science hosted a two-hour panel on 11 May 2022, featuring international and local electoral observers who weighed in on accusations of disinformation, voting machine malfunctions, and how the Philippines can create an empowered constituency that demands cleaner elections in the future.

Speaking positively of his initial observations, Peter Wardle, team leader of The Carter Center’s mission to the Philippines, reported “very widespread levels of participation” in the nationwide electoral process and noted it was “reassuring” to see civil society providing checks on the automated voting system, known as VCMs. 

Kontra Daya Convenor Malou Turalde-Jarabe struck a different tone, noting that the election had been highly contentious and said it was “difficult to be confident” before detailing her organization’s documentation of more than 4,000 reports of “fraud and election related violence”, including a significant number of machine voting failures. These reports, she said, cast doubt on whether the machines were reliable enough for future elections.

Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) executive director Ona Caritos said the results were “credible…but with reservations”, highlighting that her organization is still undergoing manual vote checking in some areas to cross reference with the official results. 

Lito Averia, Systems Group Head at the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), told the audience that “credibility is a perception” and that the real or perceived issues noted throughout the election period impact the credibility of the entire system. 

All panellists were united in calling for more transparency, noting that the Commission on Elections, known as Comelec, faces an uphill battle as voters report low levels of trust in the body, combined with disinformation campaigns and opaque campaign financing regulations. 

Addressing the “elephant in the room”, moderator Christian V. Esguerra asked panellists for their views on the role of disinformation in this election. Ona Caritos was clear, “We have a big problem with misinformation and disinformation. To answer your question about how big of a problem this is? We are in the Marvel cinematic universe. People are in different universes—one sector of the population is one universe, and another [segment] is in another universe.” Acknowledging the complexity of disinformation in political campaigns, she called for creative solutions from the government and gave Comelec credit for swiftly addressing disinformation that overseas voters would be disadvantaged. 

The panellists, and the audience members who asked questions, were aligned in their desire to see future elections in the Philippines and the region trend further toward transparency. Rohana Hettiarachchi, Secretary General of the Asian Network for Free Elections, said that in pursuit of “clean elections” all stakeholders, including local civil society, observers, media, and voters must be educated in the entire process–not just the election campaign. Underscoring the critical importance of a truly representative democracy, he said, “I humbly request to my colleagues, we have to start that education process immediately.” 

Watch the panel discussion below.

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Reflections on the Philippine presidential race

By Diana J. Mendoza

T he race for the presidency in the 2022 Philippine elections may be the most highly divisive and contested referendum for the highest public office in the country. It is a high-stakes and high-risk contest with intense pressures to win from both the top contenders for the office and those who support them. Focusing on the top two contenders, it is a race between stopping one seeking a path back to power and electing one seeking a great reset of powers in the government.

Instead of focusing on what challenges await the next President and the country, we focus on what we can learn from the race for the presidency.

1. Elections are not just about voting candidates into or out of of fi ce. These are not merely about the change of names and faces. Elections are about the transfer and legitimation of power. Should we take a step forward to usher in a new (or reformed) governance system or take two steps back to restore an old, tarnished, and contested rule?

2. Elections should not be about those who run for office. It is about the people who should be served — their needs, rights, interests, and demands. Don’t we all deserve a new government that helps more (or mostly) the vulnerable and the marginalized while seeking to protect all regardless of any markers of differences?

3. People cannot be restrained or constrained. Filipinos are resilient. True. But when it’s their future and their loved ones’ future at high stake, they mobilize and organize. Doesn’t the spirit of volunteerism we all witnessed renew and give new meaning to the Filipino’s “ bayanihan ,” from that of communal cooperation to collective action and accountability?

4. Conventional politics must end. Political parties cannot effectively steer the public space until genuine political party reforms are made. Shouldn’t we sustain the “people’s movements” seeking to expand the political space available and bring in the concerns of everyday life that are silenced by dominant powers operating in the society?

5. No issues are either politically or morally compelling. Politically contentious or not, all issues are and should always be both politically and morally compelling. Shouldn’t we stand up for the oppressed and unjustly persecuted and the basic sectors who are really in need? Shouldn’t we stand against the politically and morally corrupt?

6. Public service is the name but public accountability is the rule of the game. Article XI, Section 1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that “Public office is a public trust … officers and employees must at all times, be accountable to the people…” Why is it so difficult to execute? Shouldn’t all those who run audit themselves first even before running?

Instead of focusing on what opportunities await the next President, we focus on the salient issues and tasks for the next President to act on. These issues and tasks echo those of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of Political Science published in a working paper series related to the 2022 presidential and vice-presidential elections and accessible via admupol.org.

1. Pass a Security of Tenure (SOT) law that will protect workers against abusive contractualization. The next President must certify the SOT bill as urgent and mobilize support from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Review overseas employment and prioritize the creation of jobs locally and the organization of a task force on reintegration while sustaining protection mechanisms. Forge bilateral agreements to safeguard Filipinos abroad and create migration resource centers outside of the NCR (National Capital Region) and urban areas to assist families back home.

2. Stop the misogyny and privileging of men over women that still envelope Philippine governance and politics. Socio-economic targets should not be gender-blind. They should be speci fi c and implicit in achieving gender equality and underscore bringing people together instead of polarizing the polity as well as framed and executed with an ethic of care.

3. Declare and address a crisis in education aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Provide higher funding for education where the Philippines’ current 3% budget is lower than what is required by UN standards. The next President must be able to resolve issues concerning the mismatch of the skills and talents of graduates that our education system produces and the needs of our society as well as demands of industries.

4. Develop a strong public healthcare system with strong public health infrastructure throughout the country that are able to respond to any pandemics like COVID-19, non-communicable diseases, and other-health related concerns. Toward this end, the next President must ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the Universal Health Care law, the provision of free and accessible healthcare through the National Health Insurance Program and Health Care Provider Network in provinces and cities.

5. Synergize the imperatives of the security sector and justice sector reforms with Sustainable Development Goal 16 which includes the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels. There is a need to shift from a militaristic, anti-insurgency approach toward human security and a whole-of-government approach to addressing the root causes of rebellion.

6. Put inclusivity, transparency and accountability at the core of the government. Don’t we all deserve public of fi cials who do not only demonstrate excellence in public service but also maintain a culture of excellence? Under the leadership of the next President, can all agencies and instrumentalities of the government aim for a culture of excellence by meeting International Public Sector Accounting Standards and earn the Commission on Audit’s seal of approval? Can the next President direct all government agencies to an audit of its management system to meet the international standard for quality management systems? To start the process, will the next President boldly order a full disclosure policy that can promote greater transparency in public service, and hence, start combating problems of corruption and patronage politics?

In light of these salient lessons and tasks, will the next President of the Philippines draft a new history with a renewed faith in democracy? Or will the next President thrust the country and its people back to a history that will forever remain tarnished, mired, and highly contested?

Diana J. Mendoza, PhD is faculty and former chair (2017-2021) of the Department of Political Science, Ateneo de Manila University.

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A Marcos returns to power in the Philippines

Subscribe to the center for asia policy studies bulletin, mely caballero-anthony mely caballero-anthony head - the centre for non-traditional security studies, s. rajaratnam school of international studies, nanyang technological university.

May 13, 2022

And so the unimaginable happened — the result of the Philippines’ long-awaited 2022 presidential elections is that Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., will becoming the country’s 17th president, succeeding the controversial Rodrigo Duterte in June. Marcos Jr.’s victory in one of the Philippines’ most consequential elections since the 1986 People Power Revolution brought back democracy to the country after 21 years of Marcos Sr.’s rule — 14 of them under martial law — has alarmed people who lived through one of the darkest periods in Philippine history.

After more than three decades, however, the historical memories which could have prevented the return of another Marcos to power were lost to an assiduous and systematic revisionist campaign successfully orchestrated by the Marcos team, using different social media platforms . The efforts, reported to be a decade in the making, led to an unprecedented landslide victory for Marcos with over his nemesis, Vice President Leni Robredo, and the other candidates.

As Ferdinand Marcos Jr. prepares to assume office, what is in store for the Philippines?

Political dynasties vs. People Power 2.0

The 2022 presidential elections forced the Filipinos to confront their checkered historical understanding of the Marcos martial law regime in early 1980s, known for its human rights abuses and corruption which bankrupted the country and made the Philippines the “sick man of Asia.” The elections also saw a replay of contests of political dynasties. On one side is Marcos Jr. and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte (daughter of the current president), and on the other is the reformist group led by Robredo. During the 2016 elections, Robredo faced off with Marcos Jr. in the contest for the vice presidency and won. Robredo represented the Liberal Party of then-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr., son of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Sr., the archrival of Marcos Sr.

Aquino Sr. was assassinated in 1983 upon his return to the Philippines from exile in the United States. His death triggered massive demonstrations across the country, led by his widow, Corazon “Cory” Aquino, and culminated in the People Power Revolution that led to the ouster of Marcos Sr. in 1986, forcing the dictator and his family to live in exile in Hawaii. Corazon Aquino was elected president the same year. Marcos Sr. died in 1989 and his family was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1992.

Since 1992, the Marcos family had made no secret of its plans to reclaim political power and influence and reestablish the so-called Marcos “legacy.” Marcos Jr., was elected governor in the family’s bailiwick northern province of Ilocos Sur in 1992, became a senator in 2010, and ran for the vice presidency in 2016 only to lose to Robredo. Despite Marcos Jr.’s defeat, his vice-presidential bid was said to be a dry run for a presidential campaign in 2022. Having prepared the groundwork much earlier, Marcos clearly had the advantage over Robredo and other opposition candidates. His strategic partnership with Sara Duterte as a running mate (though the positions are elected separately) allowed him to significantly strengthen his support base. In contrast, Robredo’s presidential bid came late and was under resourced, relying more on grassroot support and volunteerism. And while the Robredo campaign may have captured the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of her supporters who came in droves to her “pink” rallies organized by mainly young people, drawing comparisons to the “yellow” People Power rallies in 1986, it was dwarfed by the immensity and the reach of the Marcos-Duterte resources. With a head start, massive resources, and the strategic partnership with the Dutertes backed by a strong political machinery, Marcos Jr.’s victory was not unexpected. With a decisive mandate, Marcos Jr. is now set to reverse his family’s fortunes. He has promised to bring back the “good old days” of the old Marcos regime, which according to his revisionist campaign was prosperous and stable.

How will Marcos govern

Apart from the dark pall cast over Marcos Jr.’s presidency by his family’s history of repression, cronyism, and kleptocracy, much of the concern expressed not only by the opposition but also particularly by certain quarters of the Philippines’ policy community , have much to do with the lack of clarity of his platform. With the candidate having snubbed all presidential debates, many are left guessing how the Marcos administration is going to address the many challenges facing the Philippines. There are also fears that with Sara Duterte as vice president, Marcos Jr. will protect his predecessor from investigations and possible prosecution for human rights violations and extrajudicial killings carried out during his “war on drugs” policy .

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To be sure, Marcos Jr.’s simple message of “unity” conveyed throughout his campaign has failed to outline any concrete policies on how, for example, he is going to steer the country into economic recovery after the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other pressing issues — like the growing food crisis , compounded by the ongoing war in Ukraine; water and resource scarcity; growing energy demands; and the urgent need to marshal adequate resources to address the multifaceted impact of climate change on people’s safety from more frequent and severe natural disasters — also need clear policy direction.

Philippine foreign policy

It is not only the lack of information on Marcos Jr.’s plans for governing the country that is worrying. Foreign policy was basically absent from his campaign. This lacuna is particularly concerning given the critical issues affecting the country’s security and its relations with the United States, China, and its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) neighbors.

One of these issues is the future of the West Philippines Sea, the official designation by the government of the Philippines of the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country’s exclusive economic zone, and China’s refusal to respect the arbitral ruling that gives Philippine sovereignty over this disputed territory. The outgoing Duterte administration has taken a non-confrontational approach toward China and to a certain extent adopted an almost fatalistic attitude on the West Philippine Sea issue, choosing instead to lean more on Beijing’s promise of more trade and investments to the country. Marcos Jr. is reported to want to continue with Duterte’s friendly policy toward China, and has declared that the country should “engage with China” to the fullest , while careful at the same time not to get drawn into U.S.-China competition.

This brings to question how Marcos Jr. would deal with the U.S. and the future of the U.S.-Philippine alliance. During the old Marcos regime, the military partnership remained resilient despite vocal U.S. opposition to martial law, even after the assassination of Aquino Sr. Although the strategic environment has significantly changed since the 1980s, one would expect more continuity than change in U.S.-Philippines relations. And unlike President Duterte who had borne a personal grudge against the U.S. and was vocal about it , Marcos Jr. has no known baggage. Given Marcos Jr.’s “cosmopolitan” background , he would perhaps be less insular and more inclined to pursue closer relations with the U.S. while adopting a balanced position in dealing with the U.S.-China rivalry. Moreover, most Filipinos have a more favorable view of the U.S. than China . Given the kind of transnational economic and security challenges facing the Philippines, one would also want to see whether and how the Marcos administration will support multilateralism both regionally and globally.

While the Philippines’ ASEAN neighbors may be too preoccupied with their own problems, particularly as they emerge from the brunt of the pandemic, it would be interesting to see how they will engage with the new Philippine administration. That Marcos Jr. was democratically elected regardless of his political baggage is a welcome development for ASEAN, particularly when stacked against the ongoing crisis in Myanmar. With pronouncements of returning the Philippines to its “past glory” as a leading country in Southeast Asia, Marcos Jr. may want to be seen as being more present than Duterte in ASEAN meetings and add his country’s voice to regional and global issues. Many of Marcos Jr.’s foreign policy decisions will also depend on who he brings into his cabinet, particularly in the foreign policy and defense portfolios.

As Marcos Jr. takes over the presidency in June 2022, many questions remain. Will he provide a better life for Filipinos and unite a polarized country? Can he allay growing fears about the return of dictatorship, and guarantee that human rights will be protected and democracy will prevail? Will he ensure that the country’s sovereignty and national interests will not be compromised vis-à-vis worries of Chinese aggression? Can he restore confidence and assure the country’s external partners, particularly the U.S. and Japan, of the Philippines’ commitment to a rules-based international order? With many more questions to come, time will tell if Marcos Jr. will rise to the occasion.

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[ANALYSIS] Fake news and internet propaganda, and the Philippine elections: 2022

Already have Rappler+? Sign in to listen to groundbreaking journalism.

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

“Fake News, Internet Propaganda, and Philippine elections: 2016 to 2019” is a study presented in a  #FactsFirstPH  research briefing held on May 04, 2022. The full copy of the research is reposted with permission  from the authors.

This is Part 2 of a two-part paper on fake news and internet propaganda in the last 3 election cycles, including the upcoming 2022 general elections, which is the focus of this article. The full copy of the research is reposted with permission from the authors.

Part 1: [ANALYSIS] Fake news, internet propaganda, and Philippine elections: 2016 to 2019

We found that fake news, though not new in Philippine elections, has its modern form rooted in the 2016 and 2019 elections. Between October 2018 and May 2019, Rappler reviewed 135 claims, 73 of which were rated as false, 40 as hoaxes, and 19 as misleading claims. These claims had accumulated a total of 4.36 million interactions, from which we argued that as many as 1.45 million people may have been exposed to fake news. Political claims dominated the shares of claims by typology, while Duterte was found to be the top topic or specific theme in the claims, joined by Noynoy Aquino, Otso Diretso, and Leni Robredo, among others in the top 10.

Finally, we found that fake news and misinformation had been effective for those favored candidates with strong social media presence. Now one would wonder how it would be in these upcoming 2022 national and local elections. Of note is the race for the presidency of the Philippines, where Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. are in a high stakes rematch from their 2016 vice presidential match.

We ended Part 1 in a bit of a cliffhanger, where we wondered how fake news would play out in the upcoming 2022 national and local elections, which would include elections for president and vice president of the Philippines.

Here in Part 2, we explore how fake news and internet propaganda looks like in the upcoming 2022 elections. We note how much different and similar 2022 is with 2019. We also take note of the historical background of the upcoming elections, especially in terms of the election for the Philippine presidency.

The long game

As noted earlier, the presidential race is a rematch, perhaps even a grudge match, between the two leading candidates as of the recent surveys: Marcos and Robredo. Robredo defeated Marcos in the 2016 vice presidential elections. The latter protested the result of the elections, and the Supreme Court, functioning as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, eventually dismissed the cases in a unanimous decision .

These upcoming elections are also said to be high stakes. Bongbong, son of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has been in the forefront of his family’s attempts to revise history and reclaim the presidency of the Philippines for their family.

In 2019, it was found that a significant part of this attempt was the use of social media, particularly fake news and internet propaganda sent through coordinated amplification and their extensive network of anonymously managed pages and profiles.

Meanwhile, Robredo decided to run for the presidency as a response to the clamor of her supporters and her own conviction to end the incompetence, corruption, and culture of violence that had persisted under the Duterte regime. This was further prompted by the endorsement of the 1Sambayan opposition coalition , which moved to oppose President Rodrigo Duterte and his endorsed successor.

Fake news in 2022

To measure the prevalence of fake news and their major themes during and around the 2022 election season, and to be as consistent with our earlier analysis as possible, we looked at Rappler’s Fact Check articles published between October 2021 and March 2022.

The selected time similarly covered the months from the filing of candidacy to the campaign period of the 2022 elections. Furthermore, the currently available data ends on March 31, 2022, as of this writing.

To measure prevalence, interactions, or the sum of available likes, reactions, shares, retweets, views, and comments in each claim or article were used. For prevailing themes, keywords were considered. Note again that what would be recorded would be data from the time of the publication of the Rappler articles.

Looking at the current data, it would be rather obvious that fake news and internet propaganda have been stronger and more active than ever. Rappler studied 256 claims from October 2021 to March 2022. Of these claims, 207 of them were falsehoods, while 39 missed the contexts and nuances of their claims.

Facebook remained the top social media platform for misinformation, with 207 claims posted in the site, but it was now joined by YouTube and TikTok, which had 24 and 20 claims, respectively. Collectively, the claims garnered a total of about 67.48 million interactions. This was more than 15 times the interactions in the 2019 elections. Likewise, based on our estimation methodology, where we assume that interactions were divided equally between likes/reactions, shares/retweets/views, and comments, we can say that as much as 22.49 million people had been exposed to fake news.

Unsurprisingly, politics dominated the major themes, with 179 out of the 256 claims covered by Rappler and this study. Interestingly, besides the increase in the absolute number of claims, political claims experienced a 15.11% increase in their share of claims from 2019. These increases could be attributed to the time, the type of election, and the stakes involved.

Meanwhile, military and medical claims ranked next to political ones in terms of interactions, but this was expected as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic contributed much to the military and medical claims, respectively.

Moving now to the specific themes or topics, the 2022 elections, by itself, gained the greatest number of claims and interactions during the selected time. The next two topics were the two main presidential candidates, Robredo and Marcos. Looking at the tabulation alone may give the impression that Robredo had benefited more from fake news.

However, this is far from the truth, as virtually all the claims regarding Robredo were against her – from accusations of bad campaign behavior to supposed support from communists. Meanwhile, those false claims regarding Marcos almost always painted him in a more positive light, such as claims on supposed wealth and academic achievement. This was further supported by the presence of false claims regarding his father, the late dictator Ferdinand, with such a range of claims as purported political and economic achievements during his regime.

Zooming in to the top individual claims by interactions, we found falsehoods on the Russia-Ukraine conflict occupying the top two spots, with the top claim garnering more than 8.7 million aggregate interactions. The next two spots were medical claims and, interestingly, neither were directly involved with the COVID-19 pandemic. The 5th placer claim was regarding Robredo’s supposed statements on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Although arguably classifiable as political because it involved Robredo’s name, it was classified under military since it pertained to an actual conflict.

Filtering then to focus on political claims, and the picture indicated a virtual clear focus on the upcoming elections, or at least the important actors therein. The Top 5 claims ranged from campaign chants supposedly present in a K-pop concert to one candidate’s failure to recall her first bill in Congress.

These claims might influence the upcoming elections. Ever since surveys began for the 2022 presidential elections, Marcos has consistently led surveys , even getting majorities in the latest Pulse Asia survey results , for example. 

This is a clear indication that a Marcos Jr. presidency is possible, perhaps arguably highly probable. It has been argued that such a presidency would result in an authoritarian government that follows Duterte’s template. Robredo, meanwhile, can be seen as being pincered in the internet campaigning and propaganda front. Not only were false claims in favor of Marcos effective, so were those against her.

Conclusions

Beyond the current elections, things look rather bleak. The current landscape of fake news and internet propaganda in the Philippines paints the country more and more as increasingly vulnerable to, and more easily persuaded by, fake news.

At the most pessimistic, the Philippines would slide to full blown authoritarianism fueled not by fear and force, but by lies and deceit. Politicians, especially the would-be incumbents in power, would have the license to lie, cheat, and steal not through coercion, but rather through unwitting consent as people would blindly and unquestioningly believe whatever these politicians would say despite how little truth there is. They can then sway the people to produce more falsehoods for them to either drum up support to otherwise unpopular policies, destroy or silence opponents, or even both.

The experience in the United States can also be a clue in an equally disturbing possibility: a nation fully partisan and bitterly divided, something that could be worse here due to the fragility of our institutions.

This is certainly not new. How many fell for the fascists and Nazis in Europe and Asia before and during the Second World War? What is novel and frightening however is the speed by which lies are made and propagated, and how fast the unwitting consent is formed and given. With the Filipinos’ penchant for social media immersion, this becomes more concerning.

So how do we stop fake news from affecting our democracy? Social media platforms, news media, and other fact-checking organizations have already gone as far as they can, but more work must be done. There are several public actions suggested, such as the mobilization of fandoms and their celebrities against disinformation .

But the first and most basic step is education not just for us, but for others as well. There is the need to learn and teach how to discern and think about what is being read or viewed, and check for other sources for confirmation. It is hoped that by our individual and collective efforts, truth would prevail. – Rappler.com

Gerardo V. Eusebio has had extensive experience in public service, consultancy work, and academia. He has served in both the legislative and executive branches of government. He is currently the head of political marketing at Warwick and Roger and board director of Lilac Center for Public Interest and has been teaching political science, development, and history at various Philippine universities since 1992.

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Social Media Misinformation and the 2022 Philippine Elections

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Blog Post by Japhet Quitzon

Published November 22, 2021

Japhet Quitzon

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In the Philippines, a Flourishing Ecosystem for Political Lies

Supporters of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are using live video to spread misinformation on social media. Voters have become inured to the situation, researchers fear.

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By Camille Elemia

CAVITE, Philippines — Arnel Agravante, a YouTuber in the Philippines, told his followers last October that he knew how Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the presidential front-runner and his candidate of choice, had become wealthy.

The story, he said, was simple: Mr. Marcos’s dictator father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., did not steal money from the government, as has been widely reported. Rather, he was given tons of gold by a secretive royal family in the Philippines. “That’s what they call ‘ill-gotten wealth,’” Mr. Agravante said, ridiculing Mr. Marcos’s critics.

The gold story has been debunked by multiple fact checkers as well as by Mr. Marcos himself, but that has not stopped Mr. Agravante from repeating it. The way he sees it, he is part of the “alternative media” countering a mainstream press “spreading stupid and wrong information about our history” before next week’s election.

The Philippines was once described by a Facebook executive as “patient zero” in the global disinformation epidemic , but over the years, the government has done little to stop the deluge. Voices like Mr. Agravante’s have flourished as more people have flocked online for news. And now researchers fear voters have become inured to the problem, readily seeking what they think is the truth from TikTok and other social media sites.

“The Philippines is paying the price for not having regulatory oversight and not making sure that the general population has a necessary cognitive resilience against these kinds of brazen and blatant lies,” said Richard Heydarian, a political analyst at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Much of the disinformation is being peddled on Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. The violent Marcos era is being recast as a period of strong economic growth and infrastructure projects. Leni Robredo, the country’s vice president and Mr. Marcos’s chief rival, is being painted as a communist who has accomplished nothing in office.

In one video, Jovalyn Alcantara, known to her 24,000 TikTok followers as Mami Peng, falsely claims that the Philippines’ debt doubled to $50 billion under Corazon Aquino, who became president after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship.

“So what if it’s incorrect?” she said when a New York Times reporter pointed out that she was wrong. Her video has been viewed more than 27,000 times.

President Rodrigo Duterte won the election in 2016 partly because his allies flooded Facebook with false news about his opponents. But Mr. Marcos’s supporters have chosen a different approach to social media: livestream video.

YouTubers livestream Mr. Marcos’s rallies while echoing the candidate’s election narrative. They spread false information about his wealth and repeat allegations that Ms. Robredo cheated to defeat him in the 2016 vice-presidential race.

Analysts predict that this army of streamers is so large and devoted that Mr. Marcos would most likely turn to it — rather than to the traditional news media — to spread his message as president.

“All candidates, all political parties engage in disinformation,” Benjamin Abalos Jr., Mr. Marcos’s campaign manager, told The Times.

The streamers say they are not paid by the Marcos camp, though they are officially accredited as “vloggers” and roam freely at his rallies. A dozen of their channels have a total of 1.6 million subscribers on YouTube and over 500,000 followers on Facebook, according to a review by The Times.

A YouTube spokesman said the company had removed more than 400,000 videos between February 2021 and January for violating hate speech, harassment and election misinformation policies. A spokeswoman for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said an account flagged by The Times had repeatedly shared false content and had been barred from monetizing such posts.

But false claims cannot be easily fact-checked or removed during a livestream, and the growing prevalence of apps such as TikTok has made it harder to weed out bad actors.

“If this election is won using disinformation, this will become a tried and tested formula that will be used in every election,” Ms. Robredo warned in a speech to the Catholic Church, urging people in the Philippines not to believe the lies the internet.

Yvonne Chua, who leads Tsek.ph, an independent fact-checking project in the Philippines, said in an email that the fact checks from its partners pointed mostly to Mr. Marcos’s supporters, who “engage in fire-hosing a lot.”

“You also see incorrect information coming from certain candidates, but these are rare,” said Professor Chua, who is an associate professor of journalism at the University of the Philippines.

Mr. Agravante, who promoted the debunked theory about Mr. Marcos’s wealth, was a call-center agent before deciding to become a full-time YouTuber last year, producing amateur videos for his 109,000 subscribers. A longtime supporter of Mr. Marcos, he knows the candidate has refuted the claim about the gold. Still, Mr. Agravante is unapologetic.

“Why would I change my mind just because he denied it?” he said.

The power of amateur videos like the ones produced by Mr. Agravante is that “they appear authentic or organic,” said Jonathan Corpus Ong, a disinformation researcher at Harvard. “They sound like the language of the streets or the ordinary person, as compared to the professionally produced ads and music videos of the Robredo campaign.”

The pro-Marcos videos often use bold letters and colorful graphics and photographs of Mr. Marcos and Sara Duterte, Mr. Duterte’s daughter, who is running for vice president. One such video contained an interview with a Marcos acolyte who claimed that the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled the Marcos regime, was a product of “brainwashing” by the Aquino family.

Vincent Tabigue, who made the video, disputed the various legal cases against the Marcoses, pointing out that no one in the family had been put in prison for stealing money from the government. “That’s just a political attack,” he told The Times.

Mr. Tabigue, 27, said that he had quit his job as a salesman to become a full-time YouTuber in 2019 and that he earned close to $10,000 a month.

While no one in the Marcos family has been imprisoned, Mr. Marcos’s mother, Imelda, was sentenced to up to 11 years in prison for creating private foundations to hide her unexplained wealth. She posted bail in 2018; her appeal is pending.

The Senate acknowledged the problem of misinformation in the Philippines in 2018 when it held a series of hearings on the crisis. But no concrete steps were agreed upon, leaving individual lawmakers struggling to get the issue under control.

In February, Senator Francis Pangilinan, who is running for vice president in support of Ms. Robredo, called for the Senate to review criminal laws to curb misinformation and proposed a bill to address the issue. His efforts went nowhere.

On a recent motorcade with Mr. Marcos’s presidential campaign, Ms. Alcantara, the TikTok influencer, held a phone in her left hand as she helped another supporter set up his livestream. With her other hand, she flashed the peace sign, the trademark symbol of Mr. Marcos’s father.

“Marcos always!” she yelled.

Ms. Alcantara, 44, said her TikTok account had been temporarily banned several times after being reported by Ms. Robredo’s supporters. “Why is the problem just with us Marcos supporters?” she asked. “It’s the same with what the other candidates’ supporters are doing. They also post misleading claims, right?”

She wept as she recalled “all the good things” the Marcoses had done for her community. “This is the moment we’ve been waiting for,” she said.

Sui-Lee Wee and Jason Gutierrez contributed reporting.

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

Philippine elections and the politics behind it

Filipino voters go to the polls to choose who will govern them but not necessarily how they will be governed.

• Philippines

While broadly similar to other presidential forms of government, the Philippines’ system of choosing its leaders does hold some nuisances which reveal deeply-rooted problems in Philippine democracy. The following are some of the long-standing realities of its politics:  

Leaders elected based on minority votes

In the country’s plurality or “first-past-the-post” system, the candidate with the highest number of votes wins, while others are left with nothing in this “winner takes all” set up. But with multiple candidates vying for a single post, “vote splitting” is inevitable. Thus, a broadly unpopular candidate who nonetheless has solid voter support can emerge victorious based on the rule of minority .

In 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was elected with a single term, six-year presidency not by a majority, but with a plurality of only 39 per cent, or 16.6 million votes out of the 44 million votes cast . Duterte’s victory was made possible as votes were split among four other presidential candidates, similar to past Philippine presidents who have wielded their power on the back of a minority of voters. Without a run-off election similar to what takes place in Indonesia, the Philippines effectively elects a president with a less popular mandate who was “ picked by some but rejected by many ”.

The Philippine president and vice president are elected separately

Unlike other presidential systems such as in the United States, which field candidates on a joint ticket, the Philippines allows for split-ticket voting even when political parties push for candidates as a tandem. Split-ticket voting has become a trend in Philippine elections based on preconceived ( and misleading ) notions of providing checks and balances between the president and vice president when they are from different parties. What it tends to produce instead is a conflict of interests in terms of policy formulation and implementation.

The deeply-rooted patronage system in the Philippines bolsters money politics, especially during elections.

Moreover, the vice president’s authority is largely dependent on the president and therefore has limited power to “check” on the president. The commander-in-chief can assign a cabinet post to his/her second-in-command as a sign of “partnership for convenience” or totally isolate him/her as an indication of “open hostility”. This latter scenario aptly describes the current relationship between Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo. Duterte sees Robredo as a critical opposition figure ( she has declared her own bid for the presidency ) and has shunned her from his administration.

A focus on candidates’ personalities rather than platforms   

This year’s election, set for 9 May, is another personality-based popularity contest for the presidency. Except for Robredo and Senator Panfilo Lacson , who are banking on their government experience, presidential candidates are emphasising their stardom and family connections to get elected – international boxing legend Manny Pacquiao , former movie actor Isko Moreno , and Ferdinand Marcos Jr , son of and namesake of the former dictator.

Such a line-up means that the candidates’ campaign narratives generally swirl around their persona. Duterte’s victory in 2016 was attributed to his well-curated “strongman” image , amplified by a solid social media campaign. Thus, charisma and mass appeal are the focus rather than policy platforms or track record. This is amply demonstrated in most campaign events that sideline substantive debates in favour of entertainment shows. “The people won’t listen if you debate an issue or present a platform,” remarked Senator Ronald dela Rosa in 2019 about his campaign rallies. “If you have said several platforms, they think this politician is just … full of words, but no action.”

Political parties serve as candidate-centric, non-ideological alliances

While they have names that describe them as “nationalist”, “democratic”, and “liberal”, the various Philippine political parties are far from being ideological organisations. Instead they are viewed as “catch-all” parties that seek to generate support from all sectors of society. In a personality-driven election promoted by non-ideological parties, Filipino voters go to the polls to choose who will govern them but not necessarily how they will be governed.

Philippine political parties rarely pay attention to their platforms but are used to perpetuate their members’ personal and clan interests . They do not rigorously select qualified candidates as they revolve around political stars seen to have the best chance of electoral victory. In some cases, parties are instantly organised to support the presidential ambition of a political personality.

The politics of personal patronage trumps development policies

The deeply-rooted patronage system  in the Philippines bolsters money politics, especially during elections. Some candidates engage in vote buying rather than promoting their platforms, others misuse public service delivery for electoral purposes instead of broader development objectives.

This tradition is partly enabled because many poor Filipinos are motivated to obtain material benefits in exchange for their votes. One recent study found “about 40 per cent of the poor said they saw vote buying take place in their community while only 20 per cent admitted to selling their votes.” Though entirely rational from the voters’ perspective, accepting “payments” for their ballots reinforces a condition of dependence and can weaken the capacity to demand accountability from their leaders. This patron-client relationship essentially prioritises short-term personal gains for both leaders and their constituencies, rather than the long-term development goals of the nation.

With this year’s polls, the Philippines can anticipate another political reset through a new clutch of leaders. Hopefully the next administration will work to address the adverse features of Philippine politics and push for institutional reforms that will make democracy work for its people.

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Overcoming barriers to women’s work in the Philippines

Helle buchhave, nadia belhaj hassine belghith.

The current status of women in the Philippines is both a cause for optimism and a reason to accelerate efforts for promoting better access to jobs for all women. On several fronts, the Philippines is a best performer when it comes to gender equality in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region and even globally. In the latest Global Gender Gap report, the Philippines occupies the 17th place, with 78.4% of its overall gender gap closed to date. This performance is the second best in the EAP region, after New Zealand. A key driver behind the progress has been the Philippine Magna Carta for Women, a landmark law signed nearly 13 years ago seeking to eliminate discrimination against women. 

With the impressive performance in closing key gender gaps, it is therefore striking that women’s labor force participation remains persistently low. At just 49%, the Philippines’ female labor force participation in 2019 was one of the lowest in the EAP region (regional average rate is 59%). In contrast, 76% of Filipino men were in the labor force, creating a massive gender gap. Progress towards closing the gap has been minimal and female labor force participation has remained roughly the same since 1990, with the gap shrinking by a mere 0.3 percentage points since 2015. 

Women’s low labor force participation represents a missed opportunity for economic growth and increased prosperity in the Philippines. An increase of women’s labor supply by a mere 0.5 percentage points per year would increase gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by about 6% by 2040 and almost 10% by 2050.  

In our recent report, Overcoming the Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Philippines , we set out to better understand what is holding women back from the labor market and what is hindering the Philippines’ gain from the growth potential associated with women’s economic empowerment. We document that childcare and social norms about gender roles in the household play a critical role in holding back women’s participation in the labor market in the Philippines. The report adds to our research across the EAP region offering evidence on the linkages between constraints to women’s labor force participation and access to childcare services in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, and Vietnam . 

What are the barriers to women’s labor force participation in the Philippines? We find four main answers:

Skills. Women who work are mostly concentrated in low skill positions (due to economic necessity) or high skill occupations (because of high rates of education). Women in low skill positions work to avoid falling further into poverty, whereas women in high skill occupations tend to select into the labor force with high earnings potential. Although many women work in private establishments or are self-employed, an important share (around 10%) of women are employed without pay in family-owned businesses and as domestic workers, occupations which tend to offer narrower avenues for skills development and career growth. Men on the other hand represent only 4% in these occupations. An important lesson from the COVID-19 lockdown was that more than a third of women (35%) who remained employed were able to work from home as compared to 19% of men. The pandemic has also opened some new working-from-home opportunities with industries such as business process outsourcing and e-commerce . 

Wage gap. Women earn more on average than men, but women in low skill positions earn much less than men. In families with both men and women being low skilled workers, the household income will suffer significantly less if the female engages in unpaid work than if the man does. In low skill positions, the daily wage is over 50% higher for men than for women, whereas in high skill occupations, the daily wage is about 20% higher for women than for men.  

Care responsibilities. The number of children reduces the likelihood of women’s employment. A large proportion of women are held back from productive employment opportunities by their family responsibilities and the concentration of women in high-skill positions declines considerably when they have young children. Having been married and having a young child aged 0 to 2 years old decreases the probability of women’s participation in the labor market by 7-14 percentage points. The presence of domestic help reduces this negative effect, reflecting how economic inequalities reinforce gender disparities.

Norms. Attitudes and beliefs about women’s roles and responsibilities decrease the probability of women’s engagement in the labor market by 14 to 22 percentage points (ISSP Family and Changing Gender Roles Survey and World Values Survey).  According to our 2021 nationally representative survey on women’s work and childcare, 75% of male and 80% of female respondents agree that a man’s job is to earn money and a woman’s job is to take care of the family and home. More than 70% of men and 76% of women believe that the emotional and psychosocial development skills of a preschool child suffers with a mother working outside the home (a belief that stands in contract to global research see for example Devercelli and Beaton-Day 2020). Moreover, willingness to use childcare services is limited, with over 95% of both men and women believing that childcare should be provided by family members.

What can the government do? We discussed policy recommendations at a recent roundtable between the World Bank, the Philippines Commission on Women, National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Education, and Oxfam Philippines. Key outcomes were that findings highlight the need for policies and programs that increase female labor force participation in the Philippines by i) providing alternatives to childcare in the home; ii) promoting policies supporting flexible work arrangements, including work from home and e-commerce , such as amendment of the Telecommuting Act (Republic Act 11165); and iii) addressing gendered social norms that affect women’s participation in the labor market through media campaigns, behavioral and attitude change interventions that influence opinions about masculinity, gender roles, earlier childhood development, legislation and company policies that equally promotes parents to engage in care responsibilities. 

“We keep gender equality front and center in our work,” according to Ndiame Diop , the World Bank’s Country Director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. The World Bank is committed to supporting the Philippines, and one of the priorities of the World Bank’s Philippines FY20-24 Country Gender Action Plan is to increase women’s access to paid labor.   

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[OPINION] The unfolding reality of Philippine politics

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Program on Social and Political Change

Co-Convenor:  Maria Ela L. Atienza, Ph.D. Co-Convenor:  Jorge V. Tigno, DPA

The task of the Program is to provide a platform for understanding these varied social and political challenges facing the country today. Broadly, the aim of the Program is to allow experts from a variety of disciplines in the University to develop a better understanding of past, current, and future social and political tensions that can arise and impact on modern Philippine society and polity. It is designed to produce empirical studies using a variety of methods and approaches to better understand the different social and political issues, transitions, and disruptions affecting the country and world. These studies form the basis for policy inputs and discussions at both the local, national, and international levels.

The Program seeks to (a) describe and analyze the current social and political issues facing the country as well as (b) highlight and anticipate the likely shifts and transformations that might follow from such issues and (c) examine their implications on society, economy, and public policy as well as (d) communicate its findings to a wider audience of intellectuals, policy makers, and the general public. The main objective of the research is to lead to possible sets of policy options, responses, and recommendations by government as well as by other social institutions including development agencies.

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Politics In The Philippines Essay

Politics is defined as the theory and practice of government, the interrelation between people who exercise and resist power, and the use of tactics and strategy to gain power in a certain number of people. However, a lot of deeper definitions have been correlated with the term “politics”, both in a positive and negative way. It is now said that politics is a gamble, dirty and decisive, that it already lost its noble meaning. It is once said that politics may be considered as the noblest profession, if only it is created for the service of the people.

Essay Example on About Politics In The Philippines

Ladies and gentlemen, politics covers a very comprehensive area, covering the physical, economical, social and moral aspect of a nation. And I would like to make the simplest yet profound presentation of this topic based on our very own. This is the anatomy of the Philippine Politics. The political system and the economical status are two inseparable factors on the growth of every country, and from there, we can say that we have no stable economic status because we have no stable government.

The economical status is displayed because there is the government that is supposed to manage and regulate the functions of the economy. Therefore, it is the government that plays a big part. The goal of the government MUST be to sustain its people the standard of living that every individual really deserves. But here in the Philippines, many Filipinos live in the upper class, more on the middle class, and MOST on the lowest class, just on or under the poverty line.

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“ Very organized ,I enjoyed and Loved every bit of our professional interaction ”

Why is this so? Is everything the government’s fault? Of is it the masses? Let’s dissect each of these two.

The government is supposed to be composed of the government officials only, since it is called the government. But the fact that a lot of Filipinos do not see is that aside from the gluttonous government officials who fights for power, there is also some of the elite class, the greedy businessmen who have hidden agendas as they make deeper coordination with the government transactions and processes. They both hypocritically reach their left hands to the “ordinary citizens” while their right hands are mischievously getting money from the funds of the people.

A very good example of “multi-tasking” isn’t it? But while they are too busy tricking the people, there is the police, the armed forces, and the courts that had grown inefficient to restore peace and order in the country. There are the once blue seas now black. There are the little children who go to school barefoot with rotten books in their broken bags. There is the usual Filipino family with a dozen children eating once a day under a leaking roof. You see? As the fortunate ruling class is pacifying themselves with power and luxury, the poor ones are suffering.

Now, are the masses blameless? NO. The ordinary citizens were rightfully given the bill of rights and granted with full democracy. But that doesn’t mean that they have to react violently and dogmatically. They were living with genuine sovereignty, free to speak themselves and do whatever pleases them. But that was often the misconception about freedom. They keep on exercising their own independence without even thinking and considering the rights of the other person. Just days ago, the president of the SGC of the University of the Philippines kept on barking about the inept governance of

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