Pandemic, rights issues, political dynasties combine to make upcoming presidential election the most crucial in years
In three months, the Philippines will once again hold national and local elections. The country’s 2007 constitution provides that those who have the right to vote are Filipino citizens, who are not disqualified by law, not below 18 years old and have resided in the Philippines for at least a year, and have residence of at least six months prior to the elections.
Article V of the fundamental law of the land invokes the right of suffrage and the voters’ corresponding qualifications, the provision of a system for securing the secrecy and the sanctity of the ballot and absentee voting for Filipinos abroad, and the procedure for the disabled and illiterate to vote without assistance.
Article 21, Paragraphs. 1-3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights invokes a citizen’s right to participate in government through free choice of their country’s representatives; to access public service, and to be part of the people’s will that serves as the basis for the authority of government.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in Article 25, declares the right of citizens to participate in elections, to vote and be voted upon during elections, and to have access to public service.
It is important to recall that prior to the 1935 constitution, Filipino women did not have the right to vote. That constitution provided that the right of suffrage would be granted to women if 300,000 voters, in a national plebiscite, would vote yes in favor of giving women the right to vote. In a plebiscite held on 30 April 1937, 447,727 out of 500,000 voters voted in favor of giving women the vote.
A Glimpse of History
Looking back, the snap presidential election held on Feb. 7, 1986 resulted in a protest walkout by election computer programmers which drew public support and eventually led to the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos during the EDSA People Power Revolution from
Feb. 22-25, 1986. The revolution catapulted the late Corazon Aquino to power.
The 1992 victory of Fidel Ramos was questioned by a senator, Mirriam Defensor-Santiago, who called the result “wholesale electoral fraud.” Her petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The 1995 election was notorious for the dagdag-bawas (literally means adding and subtracting).
Former president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in what is notoriously known as the “Hello Garci” controversy, was implicated in a voice recording in which it was suggested to an election officer that a million votes be added in her favor during the 2004 elections. While apologizing for what she deemed was a “lapse of judgment,” the former president never confessed to breaking election rules. This situation resulted in her unpopularity, impeachment petitions, and election protests.
The opposition won during the country’s first automated elections in 2010. There were, however, instances when results were questionable due to suspicious vote patterns, machine malfunctions and so-called technical glitches in the transmission of results. The lack of hard evidence, however, prevented the rejection of the validity of the results.
In the 2016 elections, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. disputed his loss, saying he was cheated in many areas. The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the petition in February 2021 and reconfirmed the vice presidency of the incumbent Leni Robredo.
The 2022 Elections
The 2022 elections will take place against the landscape of the continuing pandemic and its devastating impact on the Filipino people. Grounded on the right to health, pandemic-related considerations will have to include, among others, the following:
- The need for health protocols prior to, during, and after elections, considering the Philippines’ response or the lack of response to the health crisis in the last couple of years, and voters’ fear of infection that most likely discourages them from exercising their right of suffrage.
- Whoever leads the country will inherit the economic impact of the pandemic. Hence, candidates’ platforms should be given utmost attention. These may include acceleration of vaccination programs, reassessment of alert levels of areas vis-a-vis reopening of the economy, upgrading of health workers’ working conditions and corresponding remuneration and benefits, etc.
The government’s imposition of anti-human rights punitive measures intending to contain the further spread of the virus is notorious. The detention of curfew violators in dog cages; exposing them to the heat of the sun; putting children inside coffins to instill fear, and forcing LGBT people to dance and kiss each other in public are a few examples.
Moreover, there were people arrested and detained in overcrowded detention facilities, a situation that renders social distancing impossible and increases the risk of contracting the virus.
The pandemic further poses a challenge to the right of suffrage especially for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, overseas Filipino workers, ethnic minorities and persons deprived of liberties, the illiterates, and other marginalized groups. Government and civil society interventions on their distinct situations have to be designed and conducted to safeguard their right of suffrage.
Burning Issues
A deeply-rooted election-related problem in the Philippines is the phenomenon of political dynasties. Political dynasties refer to a monopoly certain families have on political power and public offices. This monopoly is transferred from generation to generation by families who consider elected public office as personal property.
“Political Dynasties in the Philippines: Persistent Patterns, Perennial Problem, ” a book by Eduardo Tadem and Encarnacion Tadem, summarizes three causes of the problem, namely: The political and socio-economic foundations upon which political dynasties are built, the inability to effectively implement Philippine constitutional provisions by enacting an enabling law and the weakness of potential countervailing forces that would challenge political dynasties.
Political dynasties as manifested, for example in the Marcos-Duterte-Arroyo cooperation is evident in that Marcos and Macapagal-Arroyo are the offspring of two former presidents respectively and that Marcos’ running mate is a daughter of the incumbent president.
Surveys show former senator, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is leading. Next, is the incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo.
Yet, the leading candidate has, on flimsy grounds, failed to show up for debates and interviews with other presidential candidates. He is the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who brought the country to perdition due to massive and systematic human rights violations and corruption.
Marcos’ candidacy is marred with controversies. For these reasons, there have been moves from anti-Marcos groups for his disqualification on the grounds of failing to file income tax returns from 1982-1985; making a false representation in his Certificate of Candidacy, and committing perjury, a crime involving moral turpitude. Yet, despite the evidence, the Commission on Elections has approved his candidacy.
As elections are just around the corner, voters need to know the candidates — their profiles, track record, positions on key issues, platforms and plans of action, capability to respond to the problems of the country.
Amidst historical revisionism, deepening the electorate’s discourse on key issues and exercising critical thinking are called for at this crucial period.
In other countries, such as Chile and Peru, people got rid of their dictators. It would be a terrible shame if the Filipino people brought back the remnants of the 21-year Marcos dictatorship that caused untold suffering to millions of Filipinos for more than two decades.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines released a prayer for the 2022 elections. An excerpt goes like this:
Deliver us, Lord.
From coercion, intimidation, violence and terrorism …
From dishonesty, lies and all distortion of truth…
From bribery, graft and all conspiracy for fraud…
From gullibility to the deceptive and blindness of perspective…
From threats, intimidation and perverse language…
The results of the 2022 elections are crucial to the future of the Filipino people. Now is the time for the people’s will to reign supreme.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
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