Don’t go deeper into the gutter in the May elections

I am sure Randy David’s analysis of voters’ mindset (“Lessons from the 2016 elections,” 1/30/22) resonates with many Filipinos, especially those who were mesmerized by populist leaders like Rodrigo Duterte only to find out that they got duped and are now paying dearly for their wrong judgment. The electorate has always been warned that the citizenry in a democratic country should not rely primarily on the magnetism and seeming sincerity and patriotism of aspiring leaders. But why do many voters still fall for this trap? According to David, we expect too much from our elected leaders and fail to realize that drastic socio-economic transformation cannot happen overnight but is propelled by other factors as well such as family, education, mass media, and religion. Also disregarded is that strong democracies and institutions are built on a long tradition of citizen participation and civic consciousness which our country sorely lacks.

In the 2016 elections, the failings and shortcomings of previous leaders had also frustrated many people so that they were willing to put their bets on a charismatic candidate whom they wrongly perceived possessed the integrity and competence to finally put the country on the right course. They were even willing to turn a blind eye to his shameful moral conduct in office which is totally unbecoming of a respectable national leader. Surprisingly, even the undelivered promises and the weakened democratic institutions in the wake of his presidency hardly made a dent in his popularity. The Filipino people should now know better.

President Duterte will no longer run for public office in the coming elections but our misguided choice for the wrong leader in 2016 should make voters think very seriously about who to elect as president in 2022. Compared to the “dark charisma” that surrounded candidate Duterte’s rise to popularity, the appeal of the current frontrunner in presidential surveys is coming from a more sinister, deceitful, and frightening driving force. With his vast financial resources, allegedly from the family’s ill-gotten wealth, he is being packaged in mainstream and especially in social media as the leader who will save the nation from its current problems. But this well-planned thrust into the highest position of the land is devoid of any true, honest, and solid history of public service by the candidate and is purely motivated by his family’s desire to return to power. To assure his victory, he has to do a massive cover-up of the plunder, human rights abuses, destruction of democratic institutions, and economic collapse under the martial law regime which he trumpets as the country’s “golden era.” Talks abound about his campaign’s systematic distribution of funds to bribe local officials and voters with promise of dubious monetary entitlements if he wins.

In our entire history as a nation, we have never gone this deep in the gutter.

DONATO SOLIVEN
[email protected]