Snapshot

IKEA ROSE L. MERCADO

PH wades through controversial elections

More than two weeks after the Philippine national elections on May 9, 2022, a new set of leaders will take office as the newly elected local and national leaders were officially declared. The elections reveal the political dynasty that will be reinforced as a result of the majority vote. However, numerous election-related issues were raised, and the fallout from the election was already felt just days after partial results were released.

Another Marcos in Malacañang Almost exactly 50 years after Ferdinand Marcos initiated martial law and created the country’s dictatorship, his namesake son is set to take over the Malacañang Presidential Palace. The Marcos dynasty has returned to the peak of power, with Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. being officially declared as the 17th President of the Philippines and set to be sworn in July.

The Marcos family will make a remarkable comeback after being driven out of the country on February 25, 1986, after plundering the country’s coffers and fleeing a mass revolt against their corrupt and cruel dictatorship. In 1991, the family returned to the Philippines, presumably to face corruption accusations.

It is unclear what Marcos intends to do with his newfound power. He made few campaign promises, presented no policy agenda, and did not engage in any debates. Marcos Jr. is running on a “unity” platform, promising more jobs, reduced costs, and increased investment in agriculture and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Marcos Jr. has decided to take his oath of office on June 30 at the National Museum, formerly known as the Old Legislative Building.

He will be the fourth President to do so, following the inauguration of former Manuel Luis Quezon (1935), Jose P. Laurel (1943) and Manuel A. Roxas (1946).

According to the presidential inauguration committee, he preferred to take his oath at the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta, where his father Ferdinand E. Marcos took his oath in 1965, 1969, and 1981. However, the Manila Covid-19 Field Hospital, a temporary facility established by the Manila municipal administration in June 2021, remains on the Luneta grounds and hence cannot be used as a location for the inauguration.

The legacy continues President Rodrigo Duterte’s eldest daughter keeps the Duterte name alive as she wins her first national race, also marking the Duterte dynasty’s entry into national politics. President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends on June 30, 2022—the same day Sara Duterte takes her oath as the Republic’s 15th vice president.

The mayor of Davao is set to succeed outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, whose tenure in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) was marked by substantial collaboration with the corporate sector and nongovernmental organizations, particularly during times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 18, Marcos Jr. confirmed her appointment to the cabinet as secretary of education. “[O]ur incoming vice president has agreed to take the Department of Education’s brief,” Marcos said.

Faulty VCMs, distorted SD cards Only halfway through election day, defective voting machines (VCMs), faulty SD cards, along with other concerns such as missing names, long lines, power outages, and vote undercounting, affected the conduct of the elections across the country.

Reports of these issues overshadowed the start of nationwide elections on May 9. The malfunctioning of around 2,000 VCMs across the country disrupted automated national and local elections, causing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to decide against using them in future polls. In addition, the number of faulty SD cards was about 14 times more than the 120 SD cards that failed in the 2016 poll.

Meanwhile, overseas Filipino organizations in Europe and the United States expressed worry over the late arrival of ballots in the mail, pushing past the start of the monthlong voting period.

Under Comelec rules, voters can either leave their ballots and entrust them to the electoral board or wait for the VCMs to be repaired, so that they can input their ballots instead and personally double-check their receipts. This kind of issue caused more delay since many voters warned others not to fall victim to electoral fraud.

However, despite demands for an extension from numerous groups owing to technical issues that hampered their election day experience, the Comelec refused to yield and maintained its original voting hours.

Violence attacks Issues with malfunctioning VCMs, combined with COVID health protocol delays, led to long lines and overcrowding in key areas.

According to PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo, 73 election-related events have been reported since the poll period opened on Jan. 9. From Sunday night to Monday afternoon, only 16 were confirmed to be electionrelated across the country.

Other incidents include a fistfight between supporters of opposing candidates at Malabang National High School in Malabang, Lanao del Sur, escalating into a gunfight in which one supporter was killed; another man was killed in a pedicab outside the Jose Abad Santos Elementary School in the same town.

Vote disparity between MarcosRobredo Congress noted that Marcos and Duterte-Carpio won by landslides, receiving 31.6 million and 32.2 million votes respectively. By contrast, Robredo received a little over 15 million votes and her vice-presidential running mate, Francis Pangilinan, received 9.3 million.

Several Philippine posts in different countries began posting the results of their overseas elections, with the dictator’s son and presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Vice President-elect Sara Duterte, claiming landslide victories.

In Singapore, Marcos won the election with 36,806 votes, while Vice President Leni Robredo came in second with 12,283. The Philippine Embassy said it recorded a record-high turnout of 52,908 Filipinos who cast their votes out of the 84,877 registered voters. In Taiwan, Marcos also won the election with 23,906 votes out of the 26,492 who voted – translating to 90.2% of voters for Marcos. Robredo was a distant second with 1,873.

In the Northeast United States, or the states under the authority of the Philippine consulate in New York, Robredo and Pangilinan emerged as the winners. Robredo and Pangilinan garnered 7,750 and 6,761 votes, respectively. Marcos got 5,796, and Duterte came close to Pangilinan with 6,110. Their top senatorial candidate was Senator Risa Hontiveros, who got 7,463 votes.

The Philippine Times, a Filipino newspaper in Australia, reported that Robredo and Pangilinan won in the areas under the authority of the Philippine consulates in Melbourne and Sydney. In both posts combined, Robredo won 3,604 votes, while Pangilinan won 3,213.

Socmed outcry, protests Right after the revelation of partial tallies of votes, voters and concerned netizens began venting their electoral sentiments online in greater numbers than ever before. Many were concerned about the senators’ ranking and the margin between the presidential and vice-presidential races.

Hundreds of protesters, including activists and youth groups such as Kontra Daya, Kabataan, Karapatan, Bayan, Mayo Uno, and Kilusang, marched to the Comelec central office in Intramuros, Manila the following morning to condemn and question the results of the elections and to oppose the landslide victory of Marcos Jr. in the presidential race.

The protesters, who later marched from Intramuros to Liwasang Bonifacio, were chanting against martial law and the names of Vice President Leni Robredo, the son of the late dictator’s staunch rival, and her running mate, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who was also trailing Marcos’ running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, in the vicepresidential race based on a partial, unofficial tally of votes cast. Drop of market stocks As the benchmark Philippine stock index dropped amid a global selloff, investors anticipated about Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s economic plans.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index closed 0.6 percent at 6,720.93, the lowest close in nine months. It had dropped as much as 3.1 percent earlier. Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc., AC Energy Corp., and Robinsons Land Corp. led the declines among the benchmark’s 30 components.

According to economists, stocks are unlikely to rise until Marcos lays out a plan to boost GDP, control inflation, and address the country’s mounting debt. The drop in the benchmark index includes losses in regional companies as rising US interest rates and sluggish Chinese growth dampen morale.