#halalan 2022

We are fighting against the return of dictatorship in the country. We are fighting against the continuation of corruption and injustice. We are fighting for a better future. We are fighting, so that we may finally know peace.

Today, multiple issues regarding the elections have come up. Vote-Counting Machines (VCMs) “malfunctioning”, SD cards missing, people getting PAID for voting for the dictator’s son and his party, and more. Even the commission in charge of ENSURING FAIR ELECTIONS is failing to fully understand the grasp said issues, wasting people’s time and votes.

If you do find this post and read it, all I ask is that you share the news about the Philippines. Anything about today (May 9, 2022), about Halalan 2022/PH Elections 2022, about BBM and the Marcos Family, about Leni Robredo, Kiko Pangilinan, Chel Diokno and the rest of Robredo’s senatorial slate (+ Neri Colmenares),

and if this inspires you to learn everything else, then please do.

We are asking for your help, not in votes, but in sharing what is happening here to the rest of the world. Whatever happens, whatever the results are, we want the whole world to see what is going on. (But thank you to the foreign news outlets who have been speaking on this).

All the Filipinos are asking for is a fair government, where lives are recognized and uplifted. We cannot be kept in the dark again, we have had enough.

i was only 16 when president rodrigo duterte was elected. i witnessed news of people being killed by police numbering in the thousands. i was also 17 when i read about kian's death at the hands of policemen who planted a gun on his corpse and claimed he was a drug carrier.

in 2018 i entered university full of excitement and hope and a drive to change the nation for the better. i only experienced 2 and a half years of being on-campus when the covid pandemic struck. now, i'm supposed to be graduating and the government's current pandemic response has not allowed face-to-face classes.

6 years is a terribly, terribly long time.

in these past few months with the Leni-Kiko campaign, i have felt hope for the first time in a long time. i could see that this country was indeed desperate for change and the collective action across different sectors of our society. and then, i felt that hope dashed last night with the announcement of the unofficial vote count.

i won't discourage you from feeling all the grief and anxiety you need to feel. but in these coming days, we have to pick ourselves back up.

the marcos family's return without any sense of apology is not honorable. their manipulation of fake news to clear their name and rewrite history is not honorable. bongbong marcos being permitted to run as a presidential candidate is not honorable. the handling of the voting process yesterday is not honorable.

the way they spit on our democracy is not honorable.

it's time for us to rise up again because the power has always been with the people. we absolutely have to fight for it.

on behalf of the people killed during martial law. on behalf of the people killed under the duterte regime. on behalf of the student-activists, farmers, laborers, fisherfolk, environmentalists, artists, journalists, and urban poor who are the most vulnerable targets if a marcos presidency comes.

we have up-ended a marcos presidency before and we can do it again.

if need be, see you all in EDSA

__

After watching our candidate, her team, and supporters put all their work, effort, time, money, and tears into the 2022 Elections, it feels like a dark shadow has been cast on our country again and there's nothing we can do about it.

I'm so sorry to the families who were victimized by the Marcoses. I'm so sorry to those who died trying to stop a ruthless and corrupt dictator, only for his son to wind up as President of our poor and starving country. I'm sorry to victims of the Marcos family, to those victims whose bodies were found and those whose bodies are lost in a place that their loved ones cannot find. I'm sorry to those who witnessed Martial Law and celebrated when Ferdinand Marcos was ousted, thinking their children won't have to suffer the way the Filipinos did in the 70s-80s. I'm sorry to those in lower socioeconomic status families who voted for Leni with hopes that she would be able to bring about change as our President. I'm sorry to everyone who hoped for a better future, only for evil to prevail.

Our hearts ache. Today, I watched my 81 year old grandfather sit on his own in a depressed mood because he couldn't believe that after doing his part in history by joining the EDSA revolution and voting on May 9, he was watching history repeat itself. He is too old to worry...but he worries because he cares the future of his family and country when he is gone.

But this is only the beginning. Before things will get better, they will get worse. But things can still get better. We cannot lose hope, because that's exactly what our corrupt government wants.

If you are lucky enough to be in class A and B, please do your part to help the less fortunate. We will suffer, but we will not suffer as gravely as those who live hand to mouth on a daily basis. It is easy to think that they might deserve it because they were the bulk of the voters who supported the Marcos family's return. But the truth is that their return has been carefully prepared for, for decades. Fake news, vote buying, poll manipulation, cronyism, corruption, political dynasties. The real evil lies in those with power and privilege who are educated enough to know better but choose not to do better. There is a reason why education is normally given the smallest budget, because these corrupt politicians benefit from the less fortunate's ignorance and miseducation.

The day will come when we are called to rally again and fight for our freedom. Until then, do not lose hope and do not forget to act as the miracle in other people's lives. The evilness of our government should not push us to tolerate and enable such behavior or worse, be as uncaring and without compassion as they are. Our country can be better if we continue to push ourselves to be better and demand our government to be better.

what’s redtagging? wikipedia describes it as “the malicious blacklisting of individuals or organizations critical or not fully supportive of the actions of a sitting government administration in the country.” redtagging is used to mark down names of activists or, honestly, anyone opposing the government’s beliefs for potential arrests, or in worst case scenarios, extrajudicial killings. 

this has been happening in the philippines for a long time, but it’s only recently reemerged during the reign of duterte. while i can’t compile all redtagging cases, here’s an example thread i made last year that highlighted some cases from april-may. it can give you the gist of how it works. and with the suppression of press freedom (google maria ressa, ceo of rappler, a filipino news site, who got arrested. she was eventually awarded the nobel peace prize for speaking out), there are many redtagging cases that are not spoken about. a friend from a certain university has talked to me about many of their classmates immediately being targeted. many filipinos are in danger

and i’m already hearing that the gov is trying to redtag more people who are just VOCAL about this elections. i was not even gonna post this because i was scared something’ll happen, but i think people deserve to know what’s going on before i stop posting about stuff completely.

freedom of speech is a privilege in the philippines. now that sara duterte, daughter of the current president, is going to head the department of education, it’s important to continue uplifting, supporting, and sharing news and posts by filipinos. bbm is a son of a dictator tyrant who murdered and tortured tens of thousands, and they will revise our history books despite years of fighting against them.

again, we are risking our lives trying to post about this, so if you see any post about the elections, it’s important to stay informed. it’s important to get mad at our government on our behalf because at some point, we won’t be able to. here’s some good posts i’ve found that summarize the elections/the marcos family’s wrongdoings pretty well (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5). and if you have the audacity to go “why the hell are filipinos so stupid to vote for this man?” please read this.

I didn't support thieves and corrupt politicians.

The election is being cheated and our comelecs are cowards. They let money run the scene and gave us fake generated numbers. The statistics are so obvious as well.

There are multiple reports of ballot tampering and even machine failures. People were being asked to LEAVE THEIR BALLOTS behind or wait for new machines. People waited for HOURS, as long as 17 hours and more to be able to vote. Some are STILL waiting to vote. And yet they started releasing vote numbers even though we aren't finished voting.

The DILG and Comelec are trying to say the voting went smoothly, no reports, and everything was peaceful. But there's people dead, gunshots were fire, grenades were thrown in poll stations and yet they try to cover it up. Don't let them bury all this.

THREAD

The world needs to see truth. We're being robbed.

Incompetency at its finest. Lies and deceit on a pedestal.

I am a first-time voter and this just breaks my heart. Elections just happens only ONE DAY in the Philippines and earlier there were violence from other provinces and broken ballot machines. Ridiculous how we had 6 years to prepare for this one day and it's all in shambles.