Sovereign Triumph of the Tiger

by Samantha Mae Abanes

“It was the worst of the times, the best of crimes.” oppression and atrocities of the dark past are undermined and almost swept under the rug. With a high 55-percent, ‘Bongbong’ leads the OCTA research on election surveys. The fact that thousands of individuals are blinded by the lies circulating in the depths of social media is unsettling. How did we go from People Power Revolution to ‘indoctrinated apologists’? victims are media outlets that refuse to portray the dictator as this “makebelieve” hero, journalists who used their voices as weapons, fearless student activists, farmers fighting for their rights, and religious participants committed to their moral duties. It proves the bloody age that marked and cost the Philippines during Marcos’ ruling. been able to maintain power for so long.

Vote buying will continue to be practiced during elections because it has already pervaded our electoral system to the point where even our future leaders, the youth, have begun to embrace it.

We must recognize that it is difficult to eradicate such criminal behavior during elections because authorities have historically failed to pursue perpetrators. The current election would have been different if they had been more fanatical in enforcing the rule against vote buying.