Cuadrasal, Miaka Kayzel D.

Special Topics on Philippines Politics and Government – Sec 4

I. 2022 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The Philippines’ highly divisive election in its history, with ten candidates running after the
highest office in the country, the 2022 Presidential Election took place last May 9, 2022. With a
rough three months of campaign period, this year’s Presidential Election zoomed in between the
rivalry narrative of former Senator Ferndinand “Bong Bong” Marcos and the opposing party’s
front candidate, former Vice President Leni Robredo. Opinions on whether who should win the
elections are widely divided amongst Filipinos varying from all different economic sectors.
Despite of the fact that former Senator Bong Bong Marcos’ father have cause thousands of
injustice death during the Martial Law regime under his father’s administration, a significant
number of voters seemed to be swayed by the Marcos’ camp campaign tagline, “Unity”. On the
other hand, former Vice President Leni Robredo’s campaign ignited the spirit of volunteerism
amongst the numerous groups of people, and prompted of what is popularly called, “pink
movement.” Her campaign is also centered on good governance, transparency, and
accountability. (Kenny, 2022) Their running mates such as, Former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno,
Labor rights leader Leody De Guzman, Former Senator Ping Lacson and Manny Pacquioa also
presented their platforms and future plans for the country had they won the Presidential race.
On June 30, 2022, President Bong Bong Marcos was inaugurated as the 17 th President of the
Republic of the Philippines.

II. MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE TACKELD DURING THE CAMPAIGN

Interviews and debates were carried out to further present the Presidential aspirants to people
and help them picked their preferred president. Within the said interviews, candidates are asked
about their perspectives on certain societal issues such as passing a law for divorce, abortion,
same-sex marriage and other more. But what stood out to me was the discussion about their
stand on the National Government debt. For former senator Bong Bong Marcos, he think that
our debt has only soared up for the past year due to the crisis of COVID -19, then he went onto
saying that we are “doing better than the other country” – comparing our ‘borrowing’
performance with the neighboring countries. (Guinigundo, 2022) Meanwhile, when asked the
same question, former Vice President Leni Robredo shared the same insight of needing to
strengthen our gross domestic product in paying back our maturing loans and securing support
measured from the Government agencies and institutions. But, she then went on emphasizing
that our borrowing space is getting tighter and expresses her intention in honoring her debt
intention if she becomes the president, she acknowledges that our country’s integrity would
somehow depends on how we pay for our debt.
 The Philippine debt from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank has always been
a problem that new elected presidents face on their first day of work. Our country has been
paying debts for three decades since the post-martial law era and today our economy looks like
it’s going to require its citizens to pay debt for the next three generation more. What hurts is that
ordinary citizens like me does not really feel the impact of enormous amounts of money being
borrowed, nevertheless it the working class who pays for it through our taxes. As the Editorial
Columnist, Diwa Guinigundo put it, ‘being careless about statistics and indebtedness are not
good for a presidential run.’ (Business World, 2022) In time where it is not easy to find a job that
would suffice us meet our needs and be financially capable to be resilient when faced with
emergency, we would need a leader who cares about the country’s financial stability and is
concerned about getting our country ahead of our debts, not someone who is negligence on its
impact to the grassroots of our society. Being free from debt is one step ahead of being totally
independent and sovereign as a country to make future decisions – escaping that pressure and
influence from ruling countries rooting from economic reasons.
III. DID FILIPINOS PAID ATTENTION TO THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE
TACKED?
I am pretty sure they did not, because if they only did, then we would have a different
president than who we have right now. As explained by a netizen on a Facebook comment, most
Filipinos do not really understand the impact of having debts would bring to them. If put in lay
man terms, the answer of now President Bong Bong Marcos would mean, “Di pa Malaki utang
natin, mas Malaki yung sa kapitbahay,” meanwhile, then Vice President Leni Robredo’s answer
could be interpretated as, “Di na natin kakayanin pa mangutang sa mga susunod, dahil mas
Malaki na ang binabayadan natin kaysa sa kinikita natin.” Sadly, this would not mean anything
significant for most Filipinos, as average households in the Philippines are also innate to have
loans from banks, their friends and neighbors. This culture is also being promoted by
government with their loan services through PAG-IBIG and GSIS. This is the reason why having
such debt and paying for it for half of your lifetime is treated as norm to live a life amongst
Filipinos and is not considered a big deal when choosing a president to vote for.
IV. IMPORTANT FACET OF FILIPINO POLITICAL CULTURE
Upon understanding the reading assignment, having educated and progressive middle class
Filipinos pointing out issues from time to time, creating a check and balances within the
government, help us achieved the political atmosphere that we have today. Although it is far
from perfect and stress-free government, still inheriting the Western Ideals of the importance of
education in one’s life in order to succeed, somehow cultivated the desire of every Filipinos
regardless of their socio-economic status, to go to universities. Within these institutions, issues
such us participatory citizenship and political publicity are being discussed and therefore
awakens civic consciousness amongst students and professors. As this kind of Filipino Political
Culture continued through decades, it is spreading rapidly among educated and news reading
public that we should have more citizen-participatory government and less of an oligarchic
monopoly. It is therefore creating a generation of catalyst.
References:
Guinigundo, D.C., (2022). A borrowing tale of two Presidentiables. Editorial. BusinessWorld.
https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2022/02/03/427763/a-borrowing-tale-of-two-
presidentiables/
Kenny, E. (2022). A Campaign of Collective Amnesia: Presidential Elections in the Philippines.
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
https://www.idea.int/blog/campaign-collective-amnesia-presidential-elections-philippines