We only have a week left before election day in Philippines. If you are a Filipino and a registered voter, please dedicate your time to do research on who to vote for. Our economy is in the hands of our future president for the coming years. This shouldn’t be about your personal interest, this is about the lives of 112 million Filipinos.
Look at their accomplishments, have they kept their promises as a public servant in the past? Their track records, achievements and educational attainment are one of the factors that can qualify a President, not their “surnames”. Are they corrupt? Do they pay their taxes? It’s not too late to change your mind. Vote wisely.
DETAILS. The Pink Mantilla of the Filipinas Genetrix. The Labors of the Gentle Giant. Two allegorical iconographies in my upcoming #PhilippineMythopoeia book, Dedicated to VP Leni and Senator Kiko. #Ipana7oNa10ParaSaLahat
“With prudence and courage may they never fail. Long may they live and see the peace that brings content. Hear O great Bathala. Bless our President and Vice President! @lenirobredo @kikopangilinan ☘️
Please use this freely, a small campaign design contribution, for our 2022 new Philippine President and Vice President, Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan. May they be grace to win!
Incidentally 2022 is the 20th Anniversary of my getting started on the official design requirements for the coat-of-arms, seal, and flag of the President and Vice President of the Philippines, of which the Executive Order No. 310 is signed on 20 April 2004 https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2004/04/20/executive-order-no-310/
For those living outside of the Philippines and are currently unaware of the ongoing situation in my country, we just had our elections yesterday on May 9 (Monday) and results have been coming in since last night. Bong Bong Marcos, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos is in the lead for president while his VP candidate Sara Duterte, daughter of the current president, also in the lead. And this is bad. REALLY BAD.
I can’t give a complete and comprehensive summary of Ferdinand Marcos’ rule in a single post but this is all you need to know. A lot of people were killed, tortured, and raped during his time, and those were only the ones who were found and accounted for. We still have so many missing victims until now that we call them the Los Desaparecidos or The Disappeared. The Marcos family also stole about billions from the country and her people. They literally lavished in their homes while children were dying from starvation.
Already foreign investors are pulling out which can mean really bad things for our economy which not many of us can afford right now.
And as for Sara Duterte if you’ve heard of her father and the War on Drugs then you’d understand why we’re so apprehensive of having another Duterte have a seat of power in the national government.
As of now there are already allegations of the elections being rigged. Some might think it’s a wild conspiracy theory but with the history of these political dynasties and the corrupt system of our government I can’t help but agree that something’s wrong.
Because before elections even officially closed there have already been reports of about 1800 faulty Vote Counting Machines (VCM) , the highest number in election history with VCMs rejecting ballots or malfunctioning effectively delaying the voting process by hours which resulted with registered voters being turned away by COMELEC because they didn’t make the cut-off of 7 p.m.
And speaking of COMELEC (they’re basically the committee in charge of handling the elections) their handling of the whole elections is just downright incompetent and shady. There have been allegations of ballots being manipulated and only a few hours has passed since the tallying of votes has begun and somehow they’ve covered more than 85 % of the precincts just not all over the country but also overseas. Which is questionable considering that about 50% of the country’s VCMs are broken.
There is also a noticeable trend with how Leni Robredo, Marcos’ most serious opposition who beat him for the position of VP in the 2016 elections, always has 47% of the total transmitted votes for Marcos during every election update.
(tl;dr)
I know that Tumblr can be very Western centric but this is serious. The elections were badly handled from the start and it looks like we’re heading towards another Marcos administration thanks to a combination of Filipinos who would rather deny our history and corrupt government officials. Please help us keep a spot light on the Philippines because we’re not going down without a fight if Marcos wins.
I am a public school elementary teacher and one of my students’ parent joked on our group chat:
“Ma'am, hindi ko na lang paaralin si ***** kasi yung susunod nga na presidente, hindi nakatapos pero successful naman.”
I knew it was a joke and patutsada sa ibang mga magulang na bumoto ng tax evader at anak ng diktador. Still, it was humiliating.
As I type these words, I can’t help but cry while remembering all the hardships I had to go through para lang makapagtapos—para lang matawag na isang Licensed Professional teacher. It was very personal for me, and just like many of my colleagues, feeling namin failure kami.
A lot of filipinos may not feel it but despite the education system’s flaws and the lack of the government’s support, we, the teachers, are all giving our very best.
Ilagay niyo kami sa face to face class, maga-adjust kami.
Ilagay niyo kami sa online class, gagawan pa rin namin ng paraan.
Ilagay niyo kami sa hybrid setup, gagawan pa rin namin yan ng paraan.
Patungan niyo man kami ng napakaraming administrative work, hindi rin namin yan pababayaan.
Saan ba kami nagkulang?
It still blows my mind that a lot of other supporters took it as a competition between Leni and BBM. Hindi po kasi ganon. Kakampinks were aggressive kasi uhaw kami sa good governance while other supporters are aggressive kasi they want to prove us wrong.
Kung “kabutihan” ang basehan ng nakararami at nakikita yun kay Bongbong Marcos, siguro masamang tao talaga ako.
Gusto kong radikal na magmahal pero patuloy na ginagawang puta ng nakararami ang Pilipinas.
After watching our candidate, her team, and supporters put all their work, effort, time, money, and tears into the 2022 Elections, it feels like a dark shadow has been cast on our country again and there’s nothing we can do about it.
I’m so sorry to the families who were victimized by the Marcoses. I’m so sorry to those who died trying to stop a ruthless and corrupt dictator, only for his son to wind up as President of our poor and starving country. I’m sorry to victims of the Marcos family, to those victims whose bodies were found and those whose bodies are lost in a place that their loved ones cannot find. I’m sorry to those who witnessed Martial Law and celebrated when Ferdinand Marcos was ousted, thinking their children won’t have to suffer the way the Filipinos did in the 70s-80s. I’m sorry to those in lower socioeconomic status families who voted for Leni with hopes that she would be able to bring about change as our President. I’m sorry to everyone who hoped for a better future, only for evil to prevail.
Our hearts ache. Today, I watched my 81 year old grandfather sit on his own in a depressed mood because he couldn’t believe that after doing his part in history by joining the EDSA revolution and voting on May 9, he was watching history repeat itself. He is too old to worry…but he worries because he cares the future of his family and country when he is gone.
But this is only the beginning. Before things will get better, they will get worse. But things can still get better. We cannot lose hope, because that’s exactly what our corrupt government wants.
If you are lucky enough to be in class A and B, please do your part to help the less fortunate. We will suffer, but we will not suffer as gravely as those who live hand to mouth on a daily basis. It is easy to think that they might deserve it because they were the bulk of the voters who supported the Marcos family’s return. But the truth is that their return has been carefully prepared for, for decades. Fake news, vote buying, poll manipulation, cronyism, corruption, political dynasties. The real evil lies in those with power and privilege who are educated enough to know better but choose not to do better. There is a reason why education is normally given the smallest budget, because these corrupt politicians benefit from the less fortunate’s ignorance and miseducation.
The day will come when we are called to rally again and fight for our freedom. Until then, do not lose hope and do not forget to act as the miracle in other people’s lives. The evilness of our government should not push us to tolerate and enable such behavior or worse, be as uncaring and without compassion as they are. Our country can be better if we continue to push ourselves to be better and demand our government to be better.
God bless you guys. To the non-Filipinos, please pray for our country or help spread the news about what is happening to us. We really need it.
Let them talk about how voting for Robredo and the others is not about bringing these people into power per se, but about the good governance they represent.
Let them talk about the Filipino people—not as the brainless sheep who deliberately chose to be ignorant, but as victims of a long-running and deeply-ingrained campaign that takes advantage of their ignorance and does everything to keep them ignorant.
Let the whole world know what is going on in the Philippines. We need them to watch us. We need them to listen to us.
We aren’t an isolated case. Like many others have already said, disinformation can happen to anyone, regardless of the country you are from. So read, watch, and listen.
After 36 years since Filipinos ousted the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., his son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is currently leading the polls and may very well soon be declared the president.
Despite the blatant electoral fraud and Marcos’s overwhelming lead, my president, Leni Robredo, refuses to concede and reminds us that there is still hope for Filipinos.
Maging panatag sa inyong ambag. May nasimulan tayong hindi pa kailanman nasasaksihan sa buong kasaysayan ng bansa. Isang kampanyang pinamunuan ng taong bayan. Isang kilusang nabuo, hindi lang para baklasin ang luma at bulok na sistema, kundi para magpanday ng totoo ar positibong pagbabago. Isinadiwa ninyo ang demokrasya, hindi lang sa pagboto, kundi sa pagmamahal sa kapwa Pilipino. Napakalaking tagumpay nito. At maituturing lang na bigo ang kampanya natin kung hahayaan nating malusaw ang mga nabuo nating samahan.
Kaya sinasabi ko sa inyo ngayon, WALANG NASAYANG. Hindi tayo nabigo. Pinakamahalaga, hindi pa tayo tapos. Nagsisimula pa lang tayo.
May landas na nagbukas at hindi ito magsasara kasabay ng mga presinto. May kilusang isinilang at hindi ito papanaw sa pagtatapos ng bilangan.
Ang namulat hindi na muling mapipikit. Hindi natin kailanman hahayaang makatulog muli ang pagasa.
On Monday—9th of May, 2022—I am voting for Leni Robredo to be the next President of the Republic of the Philippines, and for Kiko Pangilinan to be her Vice President.
This is genuinely the first time I don’t feel like I’m supporting and settling for a “lesser evil” candidate.
I believe—with my whole dang heart—Leni and Kiko are the very best of the candidates. By far.
They are—honest-to-god, hand on heart—genuinepublic servants.
So I’m going to the voting precinct on Monday not only with a clear conscience, but also teeming with hope.
And whoever you’re voting for on Monday, I do hope you’re able to vote with as much certainty in your choice of candidates, and the ideals they stand for.
