I write this while I am preparing to go to my polling precinct to vote. Frankly, I dread having to endure another six years of uncertainty. I say the US is more fortunate because it finally ended the rule of Donald Trump and everything that he represented. With Joe Biden winning the presidency, US politics has stabilized. I wish the same would happen in the Philippines with a win by the forces of liberal democracy in the national elections.
Another six years of Duterterism, which is represented in the elections by the son of the former dictator, is what I dread. But this is what bourgeois democracy is about. You accept who the majority wants as ruler and endure. In the old days, those who have the resources simply left the country to escape. But I am old and do not have the resources. That’s why I dread having to endure another six years of a Duterte-like regime.
I really wish the country’s political situation would stabilize like in the US. That’s why I hope that change would come at the national level after the votes are counted. More of the same could be destructive not only to our economy but more so to our values and morals. For years, fanaticism has wrought havoc on our country. I hope it ends with this year’s elections.
In this year’s campaign, we saw the middle class rise up like it did when Cory Aquino ran. But the key to winning is still the masses represented by the workers and the peasants. Unfortunately, fanaticism has the stronger grip on them. Therein lies my feeling of uncertainty and dread, although I still am trying to convince myself to believe in their inherent righteousness and that they will push this country back to the right track.
I really miss those days when decency guided the kind of governance that we have. I am sure this too is the hope of the middle class that went out of their comfort zones to push for the candidates that they believe will give us the hoped-for kind of governance that they want. I hope they were able to sway to their side a chunk of the masses to realize their—and my—hope.
But I see something positive out of all these. My eldest is a first-time voter and I have seen in him the very same idealism I had when I was younger. And there are many of them throughout the country: young people who have seen the many ills brought about by the kind of governance we now have. They are the future of our country, and with what they showed during the campaign, I am sure this country will be in good hands in the future.
That is why my wish is that something good will come out in this election so the efforts of the youth during the campaign will not go for naught. They should be assured that standing for what they believe is right pays. And that they could affect change if they act. They actually remind me of my young self, minus the radicalism that I ended up embracing.
My wish is for the liberal democratic principles to triumph in the end.