To be honest, when Vice-President Leni Robredo proclaimed her candidacy for the

presidency, it’s like my inner being is shookt by the hope that maybe, this is the time. For the
duration of the election campaign, I was subjected to fake news, and even discrimination for my
chosen candidate. It has been chaotic but one should focus on what matters most. It is when the
pink revolution ignited the willingness of the Filipino people to go out and stand for their future.
I have never seen a person that is so influential to people for them to do good. Leni’s branding of
radical love and leadership is somehow new to me. Growing up, I’ve seen my country and
countrymen settle for leaders who exert efforts that are just the bare minimum. Leni has proven
to us that there are people who are capable of giving service beyond what’s expected. Coming to
election day, there’s still this lingering thought that there may be vote-buying and last minute
controversies that may make or break my candidate. Prayer is the only thing that I hold on to. On
the election day, since I’m not the early bird type of a person, I chose to come to my precinct at
5:30pm, hoping that there’s no long queue of voters anymore. Then I was wrong. I was afraid
that I wouldn't make it before 7pm. Luckily, I was still included in the 30 meters from the
precinct, who are eligible to vote. One person ahead before entering the room, there was a
commotion. It took them quite a while before it ended. I was super anxious and scared that I
might shade the ballot with excess and my vote would be invalid. So I took my time and
nervously waited for my ballot to be inserted in the machine. Then I went home, and ate my
dinner. Before I went back to my precinct to get some news about our local elections, TV news
already flashed some unofficial results and my bet was on the 2nd place. My thinking was, it
may take several hours for the votes to be received by the COMELEC. When I arrived at the
school, the difference was already millions and it’s like there’s only a very small chance that the
2nd may keep up. On that night, I felt like I was about to cry and then I shed some tears. It’s
when I realized that after all the fight that we’ve been through, leads to the disappointing results
that we don’t deserve.

The only comfort in this situation is to trust God’s plans for the next 6 years. Maybe, God
is inviting us to endure much longer? For the people that are poor and struggling, to leave it as it
is? Personally, I’m disappointed because I’ve prayed so hard not for myself but for my country.
However, it would do no good if I won’t move on from what happened. Maybe I’ll still wait for
that day to happen, and hopefully it’s soon.