A PROFERSSOR-FRIEND noted the three themes among the reactions on Facebook on the results of the 2019 elections.
1. Anger and dismay. This is common among the youth, especially first-time voters. Perhaps, expressing their sense of duty, they expect this as a vote of protest and vote for change. Seeing the results where their choices lagged behind, beaten by a dominant party, they are crushed. How can people vote for actors and politicians with corruption charges! Unfriend me! This country is more hopeless. It’s time to leave.
Rather than blame them for their naiveté, we should see this as a sign that the “woke” millennials do give a damn about our country. They are the future of our country, not the winners of the senatorial race who seem to have plans that are detrimental to us. Rather than pushing them into cynicism, let’s encourage them to put their call for change into action, beyond voting or expressing on Facebook, there’s a bigger audience in society waiting for their voice.
2. Pointing out the possibility of automated cheating. Tech people have come outof their shells/ cells, nooks to point out how irregular it is to have a seven-hour “glitch” in the transmission of votes. Add to this are the netizens’ angry posts that their votes were not counted or diverted to other candidates, mostly administration bets.
Praise to the techie people for educating us far better than Comelec. We can see that given the history of election rigging, and the vulnerability of automated elections, these reactions put the election winners in the Senate race in doubt of their legitimacy.
3. Analyzing why the people voted this way. Some call the voters “bobo” for selling their votes, or chose candidates based on popularity. But the more important thing is to study why the people vote this way, and see the deeper problem with our elections and our political structure.
There are those who said it is time to educate the voters. But some say it should be the other way around too. The activists, academe, media, church should take time to listen to why people are this desperate, and politicians are the easy-fix or messiah.
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