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| Photo credit to VOTESAFE.PH |
After the votes and ballots have been secured, the counting of the certificates of election returns would be followed and watched to ensure the safety and sanctity of the election process.
I am praying that whoever will win and declared winner of the Commission on Elections would be respected and honored by the people. Yes, I am for Leni, and I would not deny that I hope that she can win this race as she has once again revived the Filipino 'bayanihan' spirit, patriotism and equality among Filipinos. She has encouraged hope and people's power anew.
While I am for the outgoing Vice President, I couldn't discount the winnability of her archrival former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his political machinery and financial resources, plus the fact that President Duterte is now singing a different tune when it comes to the son of the dictator. However, I believe there is someone out there watching all of us. Someone who would be the final arbiter, in all these political bickering, revisionism and false information, I leave it all to Him and His judgement.
Also, I would like to encouraged you to once more give it a thought, as Filipinos would probably not remember anymore after going to the election precincts this Monday, are the candidates who at one point have offered their services as alternative candidates for the presidency or are they really an option being offered to the public or just a marketing strategy similar to other brand products that are launched to divide public support?
Of course, I can be wronged, but as a long time media practitioner I can't help but wonder why the Comelec did not strip the other candidates such as Jose Montemayor Jr, Norberto Gonzales, Faisal Mangondato and Ernesto Abella who despite their solid educational background, we are aware they could not pull out the nationwide campaign sortie due to age and they lack the needed popularity. It would have been better if they were declared nuisance candidates from the beginning of the process rather than allowed them to add to an already divided Filipino voters. One clear indication of this was the debates hosted by the Comelec for the presidentiables where the moderators of two debate events such as Luchi Cruz Valdez and Ces Orena Drilon on separate occasions had to repeat some of the questions asked against the candidates because they got it wrong. By then, the Comelec should have discerned that these presidential aspirants would not be able to be on top of choices of the Filipinos lists of candidates to choose from. That way, the Comelec should take the initiative to narrow down the long list of the contenders for the highest elective national office.
And as I hear the former National Security Adviser making unsolicited comments claiming that VP Robredo's people's rally is already a ground for organizing another uprising in the making. This is similar to the lines of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Mayor Isko Moreno, and Gonzales insinuated that the lone lady candidate for President was allegedly in partnership with the communist groups. This group of men also mulled VP Leni during the Easter Sunday celebration for allegedly forcing them to withdraw from the presidential race.
On Saturday, as both local and national candidates were busy winding down their campaign, Mayor Isko seemed to have found joy at swiping at the Liberal Party which he accustomed to the label "dilawan" (yellow), as well as to the Vice President herself. On October 4, 2021 Mayor Isko's slant was that he was an alternative to Pinoy voters packaging himself as a unifying candidate, so what happened now to the good mayor who obviously was keen to pull down the top 2 candidate in the person of Mrs. Robredo during the 90-day campaign period instead of Marcos Jr.? The video files of the campaign from Facebook to Youtube were there to back up my claim. So as we wait for the result of the election it is also good to be vigilant and to really identify if indeed the reasons of these 10 presidential candidates to serve the Filipino public was true or part of the paid political gimmick to help advance the interest of other presidential aspirants.