A Colossal Fight Between Good And Evil

 

     It’s five days before the elections here in the Philippines. And I’ve never been this anxious about elections. And I also don’t remember being this passionate towards a presidential candidate. What I usually do during election period is just make fun of some candidates on socmed or in inuman sessions, and then on Election Day, I vote and then forget about it. I have never campaigned or done any campaign materials (at least, for free. Lol) for any politicians. I’ve always thought that politicians were the scourge of every nation.

     I am quite emotionally invested these elections because of the two protagonists: Vice President Leni Robredo and Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the dictator’s son and namesake, both candidates for the presidency.

     But let’s talk about Leni Robredo first: she is politician extraordinaire.

     I first saw her during an interview inside her abode a few days after her husband’s death, the late Jesse Robredo, who was then DILG secretary, who had a reputation of being brilliant and honest, at the time of his death. And I noticed how humble she was and how sincere and genuine she sounded, and I also noticed how modest and small their house (it could even be just an apartment, I wasn’t sure) was.  Everyone knows that the norm in the Philippines is that if you’re a high-ranking government official, you must be living inside an affluent subdivision.

     And every time I would see her on TV or on a video on social media, she’d always exude sincerity and simplicity, and her desire to help people seemed genuine, and I would always think to myself then that this woman should be president of my country, and how elated I became when she decided to run for vice president in 2016. I voted for her when she ran for vice president and defeated Marcos Jr., whom she would be fighting again these elections. It’s a virtual rematch, yes. And her performance as a vice president?  Sterling.

     And it’s literally a fight between good and evil, and I seldom use the world literally, although it’s one of the favorite words of many Filipino writers, though many of them don’t know how to use it correctly, Lol—and evil here being the dictator’s son. It’s like a fight between Mother Teresa and Freddy Krueger. Okay, Mother Teresa is probably a stretch. Maybe, between Wonder Woman and Green Goblin. Or between Joan of Arc and Jack the Ripper.  

     No ifs and buts here, evil must always be defeated, or darkness—which the camp of Marcoses renamed unity— will swallow us all.

     Filipinos giving another Marcos a chance to once again rule (and destroy) the Philippines would be utterly foolish.