Philippines faces uncertainty and hope as Filipinos head to polls

Diana G. Mendoza

Manila-- Nearly 70 million Filipinos will cast their votes on May 12 in a mid-term election following a rowdy campaign season, with the looming specter of a political landscape that may feature the same powerful elites and dynastic clans under a climate of crisis.

“The only way out of this cycle is the election of new leaders who are the exact opposites of those in power,” a political analyst said in reflecting the outcome that mindful Filipinos hoping for change expect to happen in the next few weeks.

High among the positions at stake are 12 seats in the 24-seat Senate and 317 seats in the House of Representatives. The makeup of the next Philippine Congress is critical in determining the country's immediate political future. Voters will also choose the next leaders in their provinces, cities and towns from numerous local positions in the balance.

Foremost in the new Senate’s critical role in the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, who faces four impeachment complaints approved by the lower house and awaits trial in the Senate while continuing to hold office.

The long-entrenched political factions led by Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who ran under one team but fell out, are the most dominant concerns in this year's election, whose result will indicate the balance of power and influence of both families and their allies.

On another angle, the election is also a way of consolidating further and shifting the power to the clan of President Marcos and his cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, since Duterte’s power has been weakened by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte’s impending trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity for the anti-drug campaign killings during his term.

A more frustrating issue is in the House, where over 80 percent of district seats belong to political dynasties whose family members are seeking reelection or are swapping elective positions with their relatives.

Further, under the party-list system, candidates of half of the political parties have had or are facing corruption charges.

The nation with a population of 115 million awaits the result of the choices of an electorate still swayed by dole-outs, financial assistance, giveaways, celebrity entertainment and blind loyalty to long-time politicians.

But observers are also looking closely at what the analyst earlier said was the emergence of human rights defenders, labor and agriculture leaders and advocates of equal employment and opportunities, among the candidates who could be the answer to the country’s political decay, widespread corruption, unstable peace and order situation and economic downtrend.

“For voters who choose these candidates, their decisions that ran counter to the surveys that list the usual names would be called protest or revolutionary voters,” said one observer. “This is a different kind of political expression – one that uses the ballot to empower and resist the status quo.”

Universities across the country have conducted mock surveys, indicating that young people chose what they called “better candidates.”

In translating these better decision-making into actual votes, the country can depend on 20 million Gen-Zs who will step into polling stations for the first time to cast their votes on election day. Gen-Zs and millennials comprise 63 percent of the nearly 70 million voters. The biggest voting bloc is aged 18 to 44.

The “hope of the nation,” if indeed they will vote rightly and wisely for the better candidates, could change the future track of politics in the Philippines, one that has leaders rejecting the status quo and upholding integrity, social justice and equality.

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