MANILA, 21 May — As I had predicted all along, Monday’s national election showed the nation divided nearly straight down the middle. The latest Namfrel quick count shows only seven People Power Coalition senatorial candidates leading the returns in the top 13 positions, while one independent candidate, Noli de Castro, tops the list and five pro-Estrada candidates make up the remainder of the top 13 slots.
While this year’s election has been called the most violent in recent history, with 72 persons killed, and the worst organized by the Commission on Elections (many precincts in Caloocan City never got ballot boxes or ballots on election day, forcing Comelec to extend the voting in those areas to the next day), it was also one that had the highest voter turnout. An estimated 85 percent of eligible voters turned up at polling stations and cast their ballots in a country that has been described as having one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies.
Despite this high voter turnout, I personally spoke to several people who didn’t vote on Monday either out of apathy or because they had been expunged from voters’ lists and had not been able to register again. An interesting story from a wire news agency this week pointed out that many overseas Filipino workers were not able to vote in this election if they happened to be here on vacation. This is because the Comelec, fearful of flying voters, has made it almost impossible for someone who has not voted recently, or has moved to a new voting district, to register again. This is a major flaw of the voting system, and Comelec should make it a priority to fix the voter registration system to allow first-time voters and returning OFWs to register and vote easily.
Undoubtedly, the strong showing of the Puwersa ng Masa senatorial candidates has stunned many supporters of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Although I am not a fan of Estrada loyalists, I was glad that some of them did well in the elections if only to force Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration to be more conciliatory and mindful of the opposition. Especially distasteful though is the strong showing of former PNP chief Panfilo Lacson and reelectionist Juan Ponce Enrile. Lacson has been linked to large-scale kidnapping and drug syndicates, while the “balimbing” nature of Enrile is legend.
One of the bright spots in this election is the news that several movie stars are losing electoral races. In Cavite, incumbant Gov. Bong Revilla is trailing a relative unknown, Cavite Rep. Erineo Maliksi, while Revilla’s wife Lani Mercado is losing the contest to be Baccor’s new mayor. In Quezon City, Rudy Fernandez is losing to Feliciano Sonny Belmonte in the mayoral race. In Madaluyong, Philip Salvador is losing the vice mayoral race. In Camarines Sur, the superstar Nora Aunor is losing the gubernatorial race, perhaps best exemplifying the electorate’s new wish that movie stars remain on the silver screen and not in positions of political power.
Hopefully the Filipino voter has finally seen through the smokescreen of former actors vying for public office. Unfortunately, a few days ago a friend told me that the latest hot gossip was that TV personality Kris Aquino, daughter of former president Corazon Aquino, was planning to run for public office in 2004. “God help this country,” was my reply.
THE SPIN masters of GMA are at it again. This time a front page Associated Press story in the May 17th edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted unnamed presidential aides as saying that GMA was now being addressed as “Ate Glo” (Sister Glo) whenever she visits poor areas. Not only that, she’s now donning jeans on her excursions into the shanty areas where the majority of the urban Filipino poor live.
This just exemplifies the superficial measures suggested by the president’s advisors to make her seem more pro-poor and less of the elitist that her background inevitably makes her. I’m sure the poor would like to see more action and less hype.
