We had cast our votes on May 9, but significant issues plague the 2022 National Elections. Hundreds of vote counting machines failed. Those who were unable to endure the interminable wait for the repair or replacement of defective VCMs were effectively disenfranchised. In some voting precincts, the 4th copy of the election return was not released to the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). Voting receipts were stored in unsecured cardboard boxes. There are reports of widespread vote buying that capitalized on the poverty and helplessness resulting from Duterte’s bungled pandemic response. These issues fuel discontent and suspicions and there are allegations of electronic vote rigging.

We call for an independent and speedy investigations of these reported irregularities. We particularly demand that those responsible for the inexcusable number of defective voting machines be held accountable.

In the coming days, two verification processes will get underway. The PPCRV will collate, encode and canvass their physical copies of the election returns (ER) printed by the VCMs at the end of the voting. The COMELEC will conduct a random manual audit of selected precincts in the presence of, among others, the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL). It is very important that two upcoming verification processes are perceived to be credible and above board.

The investigations and verification processes may yet confirm that the Marcos-Duterte tandem won the elections. We should then analyze the underlying reasons for this. The progressive movement should undertake a discernment process to analyze and cull lessons from, not only the 7-month election campaign, but from the past three and a half decades after we kicked out the dictator. From this discernment process, we can build a better, bigger and more resilient movement that will ensure that democracy will work for the people, not just for the few who control the economic and political levers of Philippine society.

And even if the election results are found to be the true reflection of the people’s will, they do not absolve Marcos Jr. and his cohorts of the sin of deliberately misleading the Filipino people through fake news and historical distortion. The Marcos-Duterte tandem has yet to lay down their plan for the country aside from the laughable promise to bring down the price of rice to twenty pesos. It is not unthinkable that a Marcos-Duterte regime will continue with the present regime’s policy of trampling upon the fundamental rights of Filipinos. The post-COVID recovery will likely be hobbled with the same incompetence and venality shown by the present regime’s handling of the pandemic.

In the face of this dire possibility, it is important for the Pink Movement to rise beyond its grief and disbelief to repurpose the People’s Campaign into a powerful political force that can resist the further erosion of people’s democratic rights and the further deterioration of the quality of life of the citizens of this country. Let the words of Vice President Leni be our guide and inspiration:

“Walang nasayang; hindi tayo nabigo. Pinakamahalaga, hindi pa tayo tapos. Nagsisimula pa lang tayo…May kilusang isinilang at hindi ito papanaw sa pagtatapos ng bilangan. Ang namulat, di na muling mapipikit. Hindi natin kailanman hahayaang makatulog muli ang pag-asang nagising.”