The dumpster fire that is democracy
Presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (Photo: from Alecs Ongcal/Rappler)
“This election has rewritten the way elections are won in this country. No need to lay down your platform in debates, no need to grant interviews. All you need is a famous last name, solid machinery, social media, and maybe a long history in politics,” said GMA broadcaster Vicky Morales on the turnout of the Philippine elections.
The likes of her, Karen Davila, Jessica Soho, and Mel Tiangco spitting facts and asking the right questions have proven the role journalism plays in protecting democracy.
But elsewhere, foreign coverage on the country’s elections have been nearly as polarizing as Philippine politics itself.
Others just want to watch the world burn
Reuters covered how BBM could control the hunt for the $10 billion his family plundered as president
CNBC headlines Marcos as “China-friendly,” delving into what his administration would have in store for China should he continue Duterte’s pro-China policies: be it yielding the Hague ruling over contested territory or economically gaining from Beijing investing illusory billions in loans and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Nikkei Asia’s headline reads: “Emphatic Marcos victory no cause for panic.” Despite BBM unable to set foot in the US and the family’s multiple corruption-related charges in US courts, bilateral relations could still be underway given America's history of working with leaders with thin democratic credentials.
South China Morning Post raised the question if our electoral results were a sign of Filipinos attaching a premium to the stability and decisiveness strongmen provide amid toxic domestic politics, demands for post-pandemic recovery, and global geopolitics in flux. The article then goes on to justify the human rights violations, corruption, and foreign debt during Martial Law with infrastructural developments—comparing Marcos to the dynastic scions of Park Chung-hee of South Korea, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, and Sukarno of Indonesia.
Something's in the water
Democracy is decaying like wildfire across the world.
There’s the possible abortion ban in the US. Far-right Marine Le Pen in France and President Yoon Suk-yeol in South Korea have conservatives on the rise.
In the aftermath of last year’s coup in Myanmar, the military junta is using citizenship as a weapon, stripping high-profile critics of their citizenship.
Last Sunday, a government-appointed, pro-Beijing committee selected John Lee as Hong Kong’s newest leader, the same police chief that cracked down on last year’s protests over the extradition bill.
But most telling is Sri Lanka–whose crisis contains disturbing similarities with our own country, as VICE News reporter Melissa Chan points out.
She tweets: “You're talking about decades-long political dynasties, the battle for democracy against authoritarianism, the limits and power of the people—all set within the dumpster fire of misinformation on social media.”
After the 2009 Tamil rebellion, dominant clans—Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother Gotabaya is the current president, and the two merely swapped places at the last election—pursued unsustainable quick-fix economic policies (import bans, price control, subsidies) to keep its impoverished population calm, and racking up huge foreign debts (much of it to China).
The pandemic then wiped out revenues from tourism and remittances, both of which are bigger contributors to the Sri Lankan economy than they are here. After months of severe food shortages and other basic goods, runaway inflation, and lengthy power blackouts—the country’s worst economic crisis in decades and growing protests culminated in the prime minister resigning last Tuesday.
But not before rioters burned down Rajapaksa’s ancestral home.
If we are to repeat history, well, some parts are worth repeating more than others.
