LIBERAL Party standard bearer Mar Roxas said the presidential elections on Monday, May 9, is going to be a choice between democracy and dictatorship.
Roxas said he and his running mate Leni Robredo are the leaders for democracy, while Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Bongbong Marcos are the “leaders who want to bring back the dark days of martial law.”
Let’s face it folks, the reality is that, in a democracy, the people could freely elect a future dictator.
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Pro-democracy Roxas has so much to worry now that Duterte, PDP-Laban standard bearer, widened his lead in the final Social Weather Station (SWS) pre-election survey, with a rating of 33 percent.
Sen. Grace Poe’s rating slipped to 22 percent from 24 percent in the April 18-20 survey, while Roxas’s rating remains at 20 percent from 19 percent.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, who doesn’t believe in surveys anymore, slipped to 13 percent from 14 percent. Well, who believes in surveys when you’re in fourth place?
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Roxas made the distinction between the pro-democracy and pro-dictatorship tandems after Duterte and Marcos were endorsed by the bloc-voting Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC).
The endorsement is expected to further boost the candidacies of Duterte and Marcos as the INC bloc vote is seen to generate nearly two million votes.
But an election is about the respect for the people’s will, which should and must prevail, even if it shows that the collective memory is short-lived and the people have this great gift for self-destruction.
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It has been said that the voice of the people is only clearly heard during an election.
But their views and preferences could be swayed by the bombardment of political ads and, to some extent, surveys that create a bandwagon effect.
But let us trust the people. One of the greatest American presidents, Abraham Lincoln, once said, “Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”