Philippine presidential elections (sans absentee voters) are coming up in just 3 days. As a grad student in a foreign country, I’m essentially isolated from the bickering, mocking and overall foul-play that I’ve long associated with Philippine politics. I find that most of my exposure to the upcoming elections has actually been through online publications (blogs, candidate websites, politicalarena.com) and social media (twitter, facebook). Even Filipinos here (who weirdly enough, call themselves Pilipinos), don’t even bother to discuss it, except occasionally to express their disillusionment.
The main problem with social media, and other online sources of information is of course representation. The views expressed in all these posts, status messages, tweets, (avatar ribbons?), are inherently colored by the type of people with access to these services. Sadly, this is not at all representative of the true opinions of the people (Oh, democracy!). The majority of the people (again, oh democracy) do not have access or have minimal influence over opinions expressed on the Internet.
I loathe the use of polls to gauge the general trend in the Nation’s opinion, more so their blatant use to influence that opinion. Still, polls have the advantage of better representation. Some of them at least. The thing that pisses me off when looking at the surveys is not so much who’s leading (that’s gonna be manipulated for sure), but who’s just trailing behind. WTH?! Erap!
Erap, Pare, Pera, RAPE!
Because that’s what this is, rape of the Filipino dignity. The first time I discussed our upcoming elections to an Egyptian in my lab, he said: “Oh, the Philippines, didn’t you kick out your last president because of corruption”. Yeah! Proud to be Pinoy! Just try to hush the fact that this guy is not only running again (after being in jail), but is consistently in the Top 3 in the polls. Try explaining how that works to a foreigner. Trust me, it doesn’t sound good at all.
Another presidential candidate said it best:
Diba kinonvict nyo yan … Kakahiya naman tayo! Number 3 pa sa survey…
-Richard Gordon
You might be inclined to think that these are just surveys, and not an accurate study. I agree. Erap’s strength however, isn’t just in the surveys. My father gets to travel a lot in the countryside (he works in the agriculture sector, which is mostly in the countryside). He confirms that Erap support is pretty strong in the countryside. Do you read that in blogs? Do you see that in Facebook? Of course not.
Lord of Chaos
In the first place, why was Erap allowed to run? I mean, if he wins, wouldn’t it be People Power all over again? Edsa X or something. I lost count, seriously. I think, therein lies the genius of it all. If you ask me, the administration is playing Lord of Chaos here (pardon the Wheel of Time reference). It is always in their favor (and of course, our disfavor) to wreak havoc and chaos in the political arena. Their main motivation is to confuse, to disunite, and in general prevent the Filipino people from rallying towards someone with at least a glimmer of ability to actually lead us out of our situation. Erap is essentially a win-win situation:
- Break the votes - even if Erap loses (oh please Lord), he will still claim a huge chunk of the voting population. Win # 1 for the Lord of Chaos.
- Post-victory confusion – if Erap wins, then the country will again be in turmoil. Just as it was when GMA seized power. They’ve done it before, they can do it again. Win # 2 for the Lord of Chaos.
It just saddens me, and I believe any Filipino who still has hope for this country, to see how manipulative our political leaders have become. Even going as far as risking National chaos, just to ensure the preservation of their power.
What’s my point?
There is no point. If there is, it’s not a point that matters that much in this medium. As I’ve already pointed out, the Internet audience isn’t exactly the type of people who will vote for Erap. The ones that would, probably have marginal presence in the blogosphere. They might not have any concept of a Wall besides the one in their backyard, or have access to any of the things we take for granted nowadays. What this is, is a rant, and nothing more. I just had to get it off my back. So there. Please pray for our Nation. I hate to admit it, but we badly need it.
edit: Eventually turned out that the polls were quite accurate. Erap is ranked #2. So, win #1 for the Lord of Chaos.
