The Aftermath of the May 9 Elections

Note: This was written in June 4, 2022, and is only being published now.

The evening of the May 9 National Elections brought everyone hoping for a change in our country two emotions: anxiousness and nervousness. Millions of voters in the Philippines lined up early in the morning to cast their votes for president, vice president, senators, and local authorities of their respective cities. For the majority youth, they picked VP Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan as their president and vice president respectively for the opposition, to counter the Uniteam tandem of the dictator’s son and namesake Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Mayor Inday Sara Duterte. The Leni-Kiko tandem (who were always placing second according to the pre-election surveys to the frontrunners from Uniteam) brought so much hope for a brighter future, so the entire country was at the edge of its seat after the polls closed, awaiting the release of the partial and unofficial tally.

By 10 PM of the same day, Marcos Jr. was looking to win the elections by a landslide with a 12 million lead from Robredo. To say that this broke the hearts of millions is an understatement; people were crushed. Their futures, their hearts, their hopes, it was all taken away with a blink of an eye, because having Marcos Jr. as the president again would mean nothing but uncertainty for all of us.

The next morning, the protests and rallies had already started. Hundreds of youth were outside the Commission of Elections protesting the results of the elections that were faulty - to say the least. There were many reports of rampant vote-buying, malfunctioning VCMs, and election related violence all over the country, yet COMELEC turned a blind eye on those, and maintains their stand that this election was a success, even though there were many underlying faults to it.

“I will not have my president be named Ferdinand Marcos - again.” Kakie Pangilinan exclaimed during the rally outside of COMELEC. The last time we had a Ferdinand Marcos seated in Malacañang, he ruled for over 21 years, martial law was enforced, and 70,000 were detained, 34,000 were tortured, 3,240 were killed. With all these known facts about Marcos Sr., and Marcos Jr. being a known liar and tax evader, people were outraged and wondered how he was able to win the elections.

The days that followed the May 9 polls were gloomy days, to say the least. The youth continued to protest the results of the elections, and supporters of the UniTeam tandem gloated on them all; stating how the youth should just stay in school, they weren’t around during Marcos Sr.’s time so they wouldn’t know what truly happened, how they should just accept the results of the elections. Even so, “Kakampinks” (a term coined by supporters of the Leni-Kiko tandem) stood their ground and continued to fight for what is right and good for our country. Disqualification cases for Marcos Jr. were filed, protests continued all over the country, and a thanksgiving rally by Robredo and Pangilinan was even held, in order to thank their supporters and stand for good governance.

Sadly, the DQ cases filed were all for naught, because Bongbong Marcos was still proclaimed as president elect last May 25 in the Sandiganbayan. This brought the people despair and hopelessness again, as Marcos looms around the corner again. As of writing this, there are exactly 26 days before he sits at the Malacañang again, with his inauguration being held at the National Museum on June 30.

The events after the 2022 National Elections are definitely going to make it into history books soon. Millions of people fought for good governance in the hands of two competent and worthy public servants, and yet they lost by millions, to two candidates who won because of the hefty spread of disinformation and fake news. In a few weeks, the son of a dictator, a liar, and a tax evader will be our president and the daughter of our outgoing president who started the bloody war on drugs will be our vice president. Even with all this, the light in the dark will never run out for the people who once stood their ground to fight for our country; they will continue to fight for our country, no matter what.