A few days ago, a wave of gloom washed over Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan supporters after the release of unofficial election results on May 10. The unofficial winners, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte, won the election by a landslide with more than 31 million votes.
Robredo-Pangilinan supporters, or the “Kakampinks,” quickly expressed their outrage, hurt, and denial on social media, stating that they could not accept the result and that there may have been foul play coming from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
Marcos-Duterte supporters retaliated against these allegations by calling them sore losers.
“Respect the results,” and “Acceptance is the key,” are some of the sentiments of Marcos-Duterte supporters as they celebrate their candidate’s win. Uniting and making amends under the majority’s leader, according to them, is what’s important after a polarizing election.
However, for some, respecting, accepting, and unifying under another Marcos-Duterte administration is hard — especially if they felt cheated or robbed of their democracy in what appears to be a biased and faulty election.
A “successful” election with numerous technical malfunction
COMELEC Commissioner George Garcia said in a press briefing on May 10 that this year's election was "clean and successful". However, their statement was far from what voters suffered through, as media organizations reported numerous irregularities and issues during election day.
Social media posts of voters claimed that they couldn't cast their votes because of faulty vote-counting machines (VCMs) — at least 1,800 VCMs malfunctioned throughout the day according to COMELEC. Garcia stated that this was only a minor portion of the 106,000 VCMs.
If 1,800 VCMs malfunctioned that day, the COMELEC can't outright claim that the election day went smoothly. 1,800 VCMs should not be regarded as a minor issue or portion because it led to uncast votes, longer queues, and discouraged voters who would rather go home than join an ill-prepared election — therefore forfeiting their right to vote.
Moreover, the number of malfunctioning VCMs is even worse than the last two elections. Election watchdog Kontra Daya stated that the number has doubled from the 961 malfunctioned VCMs in the 2019 midterm election. Prior to that, only 801 malfunctioned during the 2016 national election.
In some cases, voters were encouraged to leave their shaded ballots behind to avoid accumulating more voters, leaving a longer queue, as per COMELEC protocol. They were asked to sign waivers stating that they are allowing members of the electoral board to feed their ballots on their behalf as soon as technicians fix the faulty VCMs.
The problem with leaving ballots is that it potentially risks the code of secrecy when voting. Voters are uncertain whether their ballots were cast or thrown aside, then replaced with a different ballot — depending on who they voted for. Moreover, they cannot confirm their votes with receipts. This is why some opted to stay and wait for long hours for new VCMs.
In the North Susana covered court in Quezon City, some stayed the night in precincts, safeguarding their ballots. Some were even patient enough to wait until morning for the VCMs to be replaced. But why should voters go through such malfunction and sacrifice valuable time to exercise their right to vote?
The COMELEC had years to prepare for the election to ensure that they could avoid such issues. Malfunctions during past elections should have been a guide for them already in preparing for this one. Instead, they stuck with refurbishing old and mostly broken VCMs.
Despite these malfunctions, the COMELEC prides itself in having the fastest transmission of results. The COMELEC results website showed that by 9 pm of May 9, two hours after the voting period closed, they already received more than 60% of election returns. The first batch of results were shown at around 8:30 pm with Marcos and Duterte leading.
But netizens on social media stated that, by the time initial results were released, some of them have not even voted yet or are still waiting for new VCMs and SD cards. As mentioned earlier, some precincts waited until morning of May 10 to cast their votes. With all of the issues and cases of delayed voting, how is it possible that the COMELEC presented about half of the results on election day and nearly all of the results the next day?
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) on Wednesday, May 11, in a press conference in Pasay City said that the transmission was “timely and seemingly representative of the will of the Filipino people.” But they noted that there are concerns about its trustworthiness and that the COMELEC should address them.
Accordingly, some are still questioning the validity of the unofficial results, given the issues surrounding that day. This is why they find difficulty in fully accepting the fact that Marcos and Duterte won by a landslide.
The COMELEC’s favoritism
Long before election day, it seems like the COMELEC has given the Marcos-Duterte tandem a free pass despite allegations of election violation.
The COMELEC dismissed multiple petitions filed against Marcos Jr.’s candidacy. A Supreme Court ruling from 1997 ordered the Marcos family to pay a P23 billion estate tax, but in March 30, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said that this debt is still left unpaid. But for the COMELEC, his convictions over his failure to pay his taxes and file income tax returns on time were not grounds for his disqualification.
However, former COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon defended her vote for Marcos Jr.’s disqualification saying that “he committed a crime of moral turpitude." She added that Marcos Jr.’s action showed a “serious defect in one’s moral fiber,” therefore making it a solid ground for disqualification.
Another case is their not acknowledging of the alleged vote-buying among Marcos-Duterte supporters.
Article 22, Sec. 261. Prohibited Acts under the Omnibus Election Code state that vote-buying — giving or promising money to induce anyone to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election — is an election offense.
A video circulating online shows a person wearing red, handing out envelopes with money, with them are Uniteam campaign materials. It is speculated that this practice happens during campaign sorties, specifically in rallies held by the Marcos-Duterte tandem.
Vote-buying is immoral because it obstructs the democratic process. It interferes with the citizen’s rights to freely decide on who shall be their next leader through monetary manipulation.
Additionally, distributing sample ballots with names of bets during election day is also illegal, as stated by the COMELEC. Yet, in a video circulating online, a man showed a pamphlet he allegedly received during election day — the Marcos-Duterte tandem and their slates written on it.
The Marcos camp denied any knowledge on ongoing distribution of envelopes with cash in their rallies. Also, they have not made any statements regarding the reported distribution of sample ballots.
The COMELEC had seemingly turned a blind eye to these offenses even if netizens called their attention to these posts. It makes one wonder if the COMELEC already had a winner in mind even before voting began — another reason why respecting the results is not easy.
We’re supposed to be better than this
We can already see suspicious actions coming from the COMELEC and the Marcos-Duterte camp during the whole election season. But the biggest reason why this win is a hard pill to swallow is that it is unbelievable to think that more than 31 million people would put another Marcos in power.
History shows that the Marcos plundered millions from our country along with thousands of cases of unjust imprisonment, torture, killings, and violation of freedom during the Martial Law era. Facts, multiple court cases, and evidence proved that the Marcoses are thieves and their patriarch, Ferdinand Marcos, is a dictator responsible for the darkest time of our country.
It is disappointing to see the disregard of this country’s history of bloodshed, and the people of that time who had to struggle in poverty while the Marcos family and their cronies lived in luxury, sustained by the country’s money.
The saddest part is that when Marcos and Duterte officially win this election, it would be because of Marcoses’ efforts in revising our country’s history. The Marcos family spent years spreading false information about how his father’s dictatorship was “a golden era.”
When Marcos becomes the seated president, his administration's foundation will be the lies he fed the masses, the buried memories of Martial Law victims, and the painful reminders for those who survived that era.
In the end, it would be pitiful to know that 31 million were manipulated into voting for Marcos.
Respecting the results in this election is easier said than done. Some Filipinos felt that this election stole something — their future, hopes and dreams, and the chance to raise their country from poverty. Most of them are afraid of what could happen in the next six years — or more.
Moreover, it is difficult to accept defeat when there are speculations of foul play coming from those in power.
Currently, volunteers from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting are manually counting election returns to give an official count and winners. According to them, there is a 100% match rate between their 16,820 encoded physical election returns and the electronically transmitted results from COMELEC.
Robredo-Pangilinan supporters, however, are holding on to the hope that the election results would be overturned in favor of their candidate. Ongoing protests nationwide call for the admission of failure in election from the COMELEC because of the numerous issues reported.
But even if the official results affirm the win of Marcos and Duterte, uniting under their banner would still be difficult. Given the issues of election malfunction, bias, and manipulation, one will inevitably question if democracy is still in play. One can wonder if citizens still have the power and voice to choose our leaders.
However, the opposition will continue their fight against another possible tyrannical ruler. Movements against the Marcos presidency urges the youth and fellow Filipinos to fight for their future.
As presidential bet Leni Robredo stated, “May kilusang isinilang at hindi ito papanaw sa pagtatapos ng bilangan. Ang namulat hindi na muling mapipikit. Hindi natin hahayaan makatulog muli ang pag-asang nagising.”
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