PEARL OF THE SEAS REORIENT THE Editorial

May9 was the much awaited national elections. Millions of Filipinos, young and old, went out to cast their votes. It was expected to be a game-changing moment for the entire nation. Many hoped it would be one of the country’s most historically significant election in the present times.

Three years has passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began. It has affected the whole world and the Philippines is not exempted. Then President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration were constantly subjected to doubts and flak due to questionable decisions and plans made not only regarding the pandemic but also about other issues and concerns the country faced.

This was one legitimate reason that made the national elections significant. Filipinos hungered for changes and redemption. They endured three years of isolation. They suffered financially,emotionally, psychologically and physically due to the health crisis. All these fueled their desire to vote and to hope for transformations.

Noticeably, the political climate started to change. Filipinos became more active and vocal on social media since they had been forcefully ushered into the era of the virtual world. News, information, and issues spread faster. This made the elections highly publicized; however, with the fast communication also came the fast spread of fake news and disinformation which made elections controversial. Vote-buying, troll farming to outright making of defamation made the whole election similar to a b-list movie. It seemed no politician could be immediately trusted. Everyone had hidden agendas. Did history just repeat itself?

Socrates once said that he hated Democracy for the same reason that it was loved. It was because of the people. People were easily fooled by demagogues and charlatans roaming about. People easily believed what they saw and heard. With flowery words, quick wit and money, politicians easily gained votes. The social media and the internet intensified this effect to an unimaginable extent.

With enough influence, people could twist the truth and could create a “reality” they wanted. It was also the era of information overload. So much so that it was seemingly impossible to discern what was real or what was fake. A large factor to it was because of the illiteracy of Filipinos. They had no sufficient knowledge when it came to things that mattered the most; they could easily be taken advantage of. They had no means to understand and digest information properly.

This was precisely why the elections stood to be one of the most important and needed.

Now, the country has a new president…

Will the new president make the right decisions? Is he capable of facing adversities for his people? Should Filipinos say, “Whether we like him or not, we should be one with him if it concerns the welfare of the country and the people.”?