{"id":11997,"date":"2022-05-21T20:38:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-22T06:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=11997"},"modified":"2022-05-21T20:53:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-22T06:53:37","slug":"dealing-with-the-second-coming-of-marcos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2022\/05\/21\/dealing-with-the-second-coming-of-marcos\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing with the second coming of Marcos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Emil Guillermo
<\/em>
As the votes in the Philippines are being finalized, I have webstered a new word in my amok lexicon. What other word can describe last week in our ancestral country, but the verb \u201cto Bongbong.\u201d

Generically defined as \u201cto win an election in a landslide,\u201d you can use it in a sentence this way: \u201cDemocracy was bongbonged last week when a disreputable political clan remerged victoriously.\u201d

That\u2019s democracy in the Philippines.

And while many Ilocanos and those in Hawaii may seem happy with the bongbonging, there are more than a handful who have some concern about the future of democracy in the RP.

Especially now that outgoing President Duterte has declared he\u2019d like to kill \u201c3-5 drug lords\u201d before he leaves office in June.

Empty threat? The United Nations puts the number of deaths by Duterte\u2019s extrajudicial killings to more than 27,000. The country\u2019s official numbers are more modest at under 7,000. Either number is hard to reconcile with the tenants of democracy.

And so it\u2019s up to Bongbong whether to carry on the example of the strong autocrat. Or maybe bring attention to doing something more for the people, rather than kill the people.

At this point, especially with Duterte\u2019s daughter as vice president, we might expect more of the same. And that is what people fear. Autocracy with more money. And with an expanded target base? Why stop at drug lords?

The unknowns abound when a Marcos is back in power.

As Filipino Americans, we cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Remember When Trump Got Elected<\/strong>
If you are among those worried, just recall the Trump election in November 2016.

Really feel what that was like. That\u2019s when a man who never should\u2019ve been elected president won the presidency of the United States, and then went on to become the worst president in our country\u2019s history.

With Bongbong, we\u2019re just talking about the Philippines. It\u2019s not the United States. We should all be able to live with it until the Filipinos who have the best interests of the people and the country figure out how to put their egos aside and lead Asia\u2019s oldest democracy.

But whatever happens, what\u2019s happening in the Philippines right now is just indicative of the fate of democracies around the world.

We\u2019re finding how democracy, the great experiment, is hard to sustain, especially when politics is driven by money in an environment where media\u2019s truth-tellers can be bypassed by social media, easily manipulated in order to manipulate an uncritical public.

It creates a situation where it\u2019s almost impossible for leaders to lead. All that\u2019s left are identifiable political brands. People just follow logos and billboards and images down some blind path.

In this case, the Marcos brand has been rehabilitated enough to win a presidency. It was never close.

The pre-election polls aren\u2019t usually wrong on a predicted landslide. Not unless people lie to survey takers. Or play some other kind of trick.

At some point, you just must take the early signs as indicative of the people truly speaking out. Yes, there were some instances of irregularities, but not enough to overcome the flood of votes that came in for Marcos, Jr.

The flood of BongbongMania was clear. And if you\u2019re a political opponent, when the early votes are so dominantly one way, there\u2019s nothing left to do but show your love of your country.

As election night came to a close, Dictator Junior, Bongbong Marcos, BBM, whatever you choose to call him, had such a lead that counting votes were a mere formality.

So Leni Robredo could do nothing else but show her leadership and try to accept her fate with grace and dignity.

\u201cThe voice of Filipino voters is becoming clearer and clearer,\u201d said Vice President Robredo in an address livestreamed early on Tuesday in the Philippines on Facebook. \u201cFor the sake of the Philippines, we should listen to that voice.\u201d

There was really nothing more to say.

When Marcos and his family fled the country in shame and exile on Feb. 25, 1986, millions of Filipinos were on the street. Democracy was direct and loud and could not be ignored.

The people knew the difference between a dictator and a president. And the president in Malaca\u00f1ang was exposed. Ferdinand Marcos realized he had nothing to say to People Power. All he could do was slink away. In shame.

Marcos and his family were lucky to get out alive. But now 36 years later the Marcos\u2019 are back like a tumor. Benign? Malignant? We\u2019ll have to see.

But amazingly, Filipinos are welcoming it. It wasn\u2019t all at once, it was gradual, over time. And surely Rodrigo Duterte had something to do with it, greasing the process by giving Marcos the ultimate penance, a hero\u2019s burial back in 2016.

That was it. And then it was the living\u2019s turn to re-establish normalcy, Imelda, Bongbong, Imee, et al.

The Filipinos let them all back in.

Bongbong was not automatically embraced to get his own set of keys to Malaca\u00f1ang. But it says something when the best of the nation\u2019s politicians run, including the current vice president, members of the Congress, and local leaders, and Filipinos can\u2019t even find someone from among the untainted.

They choose overwhelmingly a name they recognized. The father screwed them over, but maybe the son will learn to be less greedy?

The people went with the devil they know because the others have not delivered enough to be the devil or angel.

Not even the boxing champ Pacquiao could convince the nation that he was the politician who knew what was best for them. And why? Maybe because boxing has a worse reputation for honesty and fairness than politics? And Pacquiao is far from the brightest bulb in a society prone to brownouts.

Would another senator or a mayor be worth a bet, the Filipino metaphor for the backing of a candidate? Or was Robredo, with her veep experience the best bet?

There\u2019s no sexism in politics. The Philippines has tried female leadership. It knows the failure of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and even the great hope of Corazon Aquino.

Robredo was arguably better than those two, but was she up to the task? She was trustworthy and competent but did not convince the voters she could lead the Philippines in the geopolitical ways of the world in 2022 and beyond.

Russia and Putin are standing up irrationally to the West and maybe want to be more like North Korea than China. And China, baffled by the coronavirus is unsure of how to position itself, though it seems to want to bully the Philippines at will.

Voters didn\u2019t think Robredo was the one with the sharp elbows to play the game. They may have been wrong. The people clearly felt the Philippines needed someone with just enough \u201cbad guy\u201d authoritarianism in his DNA, if not resume.

Bongbong is but a hood ornament. But as the second coming of Marcos, Filipinos must think he could scare the world.

Filipino scarecrow? But we don\u2019t really know. BBM didn\u2019t debate. He had trolls do his bidding. And his record of political accomplishments shows no real capacity to lead the Philippines out of or into anything good or bad.

He\u2019s the dictator\u2019s son. He\u2019s not even Kim Jong Un. He\u2019s got a name and a nickname. What\u2019s he stands for besides the brand. And Filipinos went with a brand. Is that so unusual?

To her credit, Robredo is at least being mindful. The people have spoken. Nothing left but to keep working for the good of the country.

With that loyal opposition perspective, Filipinos there and their relatives around the world must shoulder on. And just like Americans found out under Trump, this moment will be over before you know it. Bumpy, yes. But it too will pass.

The big test at the beginning, is how will Marcos deal with the autocratic legacy of Duterte? But we\u2019ll all be watching. A Marcos is back in charge.

EMIL GUILLERMO<\/strong> is a journalist and commentator. He talks about this column and other matters on <\/em>\u201cEmil Amok\u2019s Takeout\u201d Live @2p Pacific. Livestream on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>; my <\/em>YouTube<\/em><\/a> channel; and <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>. Catch the recordings on <\/em>www.amok.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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