I would’ve wanted to write this article right after the results of the May 2022 presidential election, but I found myself paralyzed.
And it wasn’t just me; most of the people I know who supported Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan felt the same.
Suddenly, nobody’s saying anything online or even in chat groups. There were small pockets of loud ones decrying cheating and allegations of it. Others are convinced that hard evidence will spring up very soon or are hoping perhaps that the opposition will speak up or say something about the dismal outcome of the elections.
People I know were visibly tense, as if watching a ship slowly sinking from afar, except that the person was watching the entire tragedy on television while also being inside the sinking ship.
People I know cry, are dumbfounded, lose sleep, or sometimes take much of it if only to be able to escape the reality that awaits everyone… Another humiliating Marcos presidency.
And as if Duterte wasn’t enough to destroy the country, 31 million Filipinos allegedly drank the ‘Tallano Gold’ Kool Aid and await everyone’s demise.
For some, the whole experience merited a painful experience of blaming others or even themselves. Some became recluses and only found comfort in keeping the pink ribbons on their social media profile pics.
My way of coping with the results is different, partly because I saw it coming a mile away, so in a way I grieved over it at the back of my head even before the entire thing happened.
Still, experiencing it firsthand makes a whole world of difference to how it stings in the heart.
I tried to view the entire experience in the third person while holding back any chance of trying to make sense of it.
Still, when June 30 came and BBM was sworn into office, I went to our house and visited the urns of my step-parents. They were both victims of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
I stood in front of them and talked to them, telling them that the Marcoses are back in Malakanyang and for them to don’t stress over it and instead rest well and leave the responsibility to us.
Suffice to say, I cried a bit, but it took almost all my energy to stop myself from weeping.
Everything is lost, I thought, or perhaps not.
Around this time, a popular Korean drama aired on Netflix.
The drama is called Extraordinary Attorney Woo.
I haven’t finished the entire series yet while writing this article, but in episode 12 I came across the concept of “Meaningful Loss.”
I will not spoil the entire episode for you. However, the term “Meaningful Loss” pertains to a loss that is comparable to the idiom
“Losing the battle but winning the war”.
The movement that Leni and Kiko created is a movement where dreams are made.
It is true that we lost big time (however I suspect the election was and will still be, but I digress) but the way people’s hopes and dreams charged the consciousness of the Filipino mind in the hope of a better government sparked a lot of movement, especially in the youth.
An interesting conversation happened when I joined the Miting De Avance of Leni and Kiko in Makati.
While resting on the streets filled with supporters, I chanced a conversation with a middle-aged lady.
She said that she is with her only daughter, who is a minor and has not yet reached voting age.
The family had been in Makati since yesterday and booked a hotel room just for this event.
It was already past 4 pm when we talked, but her kid had been in front of the stage since 1 pm. while her mom is left sitting in front of their hotel.
The mom said that they acquiesced to their child’s wish as she was so passionate about the entire campaign and wouldn’t want to miss the final rally.
True enough, most of the faces that you’ll see at the event are mostly from the younger generation.
Sadly, the kid will not be able to vote, but I am pretty sure that when the time comes when she can, she will vote for Leni and Kiko, only if they run again.
Circling back to the silence of most kakampinks after the elections, my theory is that most of them, if not all, decided to be stoic about the whole affair, if only to save what’s left of their sanity and hope.
They figured that because they can’t directly do anything about the political situation of the country, they would opt to focus on their lives and work on what they can control.
This is a smart move, but at the same time a self-defense mechanism, where detaching one’s emotions is necessary for survival.
Only God knows what goes on in their minds or even in their hearts.
Whereas Leni decided to move forward by creating an NGO and Kiko went back to farming, only time will tell what lies ahead for both of them, but there’s a huge political vacuum looming on the horizon.
And this vacuum is the lack of political candidates for the next election, whereas the ruling party has planned years ahead of who they plan to seat next as President, and that is Sara Duterte with Robin Padilla as her VP (oh please no).
Sara’s office is creating satellite offices all over the country and being given billions of pesos of funds for her office and DEP-ED.
One can only imagine the amount of reach she can harness as she uses her position to craft her political machinery.
Sara has been going all over the country giving out free back packs in schools. In her efforts to become relevant, she makes it a point to be on the local news day in and out.
whereas the opposition has almost no one or nothing to show for it.
At least for now, that’s what’s bothering me.