It is not only the
presidential race that is very exciting and Filipinos are looking forward to
its final results. The Vice – President
is equally igniting Pinoys as well perhaps it is due to the inclusion of the
son of the former president and dictator who is more popularly known as
Bongbong Marcos. His familiarity among
Filipinos is not only due to his good looks but of course due to his surname which
has many unresolved issues particularly the wealth stolen by his parents who
earned the monicker “The Conjugal Dictatorship.”
The Fire that Bongbong
Ignited
His candidacy ignited lots
of emotions from millions of Filipinos.
Those who voted and booted out his father and the entire First Family
were aghast at the thought of having another Marcos being elected into the 2nd
highest elected post in the country.
Those who were victims of human rights abuses were scandalized that no
apologies were issued from the Marcos family and it seems that they will be
rewarded with the atrocities the committed by electing Bongbong Marcos. Those who fought vigorously against Marcos
and his Martial Rule were unanimous in saying that no more Marcoses should rule
the country but apparently their voices are just whimpers to Marcos loyalists
and current crop of supporters.
The Sins of The Father
On the opposite side of
the fence, Marcos loyalists were elated with Bongbong Marcos foray in 2016
electoral process as it is a sign of Divine Providence. The loyalists are still convinced that Marcos
did nothing wrong to the country and the Great Apo still remains the greatest
president ever the country has produced the loyalists claimed. The current supporters of the Marcoses were
so passionate of the son’s travails in politics that they are moving heaven and
earth just to make it a destiny for Bongbong to become Vice President of the
Philippines and hope that this is just a prelude to 2022 presidential
elections. They are trying so hard to
sell him to the voters to the point of distorting history by promoting that
Ferdinand Marcos era was the best of times in Philippines history.
They are also trying to
convince that if there were sins the father has committed it cannot be the sins
of the son also. For them, it is grave
injustice to make the son pay for his father’s sins. However, there are also large numbers of
Filipinos who are convinced that yes the sins of the father is not the sins of
the son however, he is the living witness of the atrocities committed by the
Conjugal Dictators and much more, he enjoyed the benefits, perks, and
privileges of the crimes the parents committed.
Reasons Why He Might Win
The Election
Both sides of the equation
are convinced that they are correct in their logic. However, regardless whether you are pro
Bongbong Marcos or against his candidacy, one thing that is very clear is that there
is a great chance that he might win the Vice President contest.
- He
has the much vaunted “Solid North” support. While during the 1995 national election,
this support was not enough to carry him within the top 12 slot for
Senators; he only placed 16th place.
However, this was rather a very good placement considering that it
was the first time that he run for public office outside of Ilocos
provinces where he served as either governor or as congressman. In addition, in 1995, the sins of the
Marcoses were quite fresh in the minds of Filipinos thus, he was not able
to muster enough votes outside of the “Solid North” forces. But, in 2010, he ran again as Senator
and placed 7th over-all.
Perhaps, there were quite a number of Filipinos who forgave the Marcoses
or were just disappointed with Philippine politics as they perceived that
there was not much difference between Marcos politics and the succeeding
administrations after him. Thus, he
gathered more votes this time from outside of his turf.
- He has the resources at his command. The Marcoses are worth billions and with this great wealth the family can finance any political campaign and still end up being billionaires. It is part and parcel in Philippine election setting that vote buying is one of the most reliable strategies during elections provided of course if you have the money to buy votes. The Marcoses are no stranger to this thing and perhaps they might have elevated vote buying to higher level.
- The
Filipinos are disappointed and bringing back Marcoses doesn’t matter
anymore. The promise of new
politics right after the First Family was exiled in Hawaii did not
materialize. Instead, the issues
that the Marcoses were guilty of are still present. Cronyism is alive under what was known
during Cory Administration as “Kamag-anak Inc.” The human rights abuses against the “masang”
Pilipino did not vanish into thin air instead continued under both mother
and son administration; the Olalia Massacre and just recently the
Kidapawan massacre just to name a few.
Corruption
is still rampant thus, many voters don’t care if Bongbong Marcoses hasn’t
apologized yet for the sins his family committed during Martial Law years. It doesn’t matter anymore if the stolen
wealth weren’t returned yet to the Filipinos.
For millions of Pinoy voters, his foray into politics is one way of
getting their shares with the Marcos loot.
His election is a sign that Filipinos are disappointed, frustrated, and
disillusioned.
- He
has no formidable opponent. Running
against Chiz Escudero is not difficult to tackle, in fact, it is highly
possible that both families might agree on backdoor negotiation as both
families were good friends. Alan
Cayetano has weak charisma and if not for being attached with Duterte his
candidacy is just as good as that of Trillanes. Even Leni Robredo is not a tough act to
battle. Both can play the sympathy
game but Bongbong has “Greek tragedy” like life story that warrants Divine
Justice provided that he can convince voters that his father was unfairly
treated or judged.
If and when Bongbong
Marcos will win the Vice President seat, Filipinos are the ones to blame. The political system has failed to install
measures that will prevent candidates like Marcoses to relive their lost glory. The Filipino people in general were to
forgiving that huge numbers of Filipinos welcomed the Marcoses after over a
decade of exile which is so different with the Italians where its royal family
who connived with Mussolini remained in exile for 57 years were met with
disgust when they returned to Italy.
If Bongbong Marcos wins,
are we going to call the “Ghostbusters?”
Photo credits in order of presentation:
rappler.com
iskwiki.upd.edu.ph
rappler.com
http://imeldamarcos.weebly.com
interaksyon.com
http://pinoythaiyo.com
globalbalita.com
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