A Day of Nightmares

 

     Today is Election Day in the Philippines.

     We went to the school where our voting precinct was at 10:50 in the morning, but because of some COVID-19 related protocols measures, we had to line up for more than an hour under the sun before we could vote.  There were lots of people wanting to vote. And it was probably the first time that I was very, very cautious while filling up my ballot lest I invalidate it. I was very cautious not to overvote and overshade the circles. I was gung ho in making my vote count.

     I voted for Vice President Leni Robredo as president, but sadly, as of 9:24 PM, as I wrote this, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the dictator’s son, was leading with 20 million votes, followed by VP Leni with just 9 million votes. Almost 61 percent of votes have been counted, so it’s near impossible for her to catch up. This is really not surprising as Filipinos keep voting unscrupulous politicians, and then will complain why corruption and stupidity persist in the government. Imagine, choosing a non-achieving politician with a lot of baggage over someone like Leni Robredo (an over-achiever government official who is untainted with corruption and any kind of anomalies).

     And to solidify a lot of people’s argument that majority of Filipino voters are idiots, just take a look at the candidate leading the senatorial elections, a has-been actor who has never held a sensitive government position, and who once claimed that he would never run as senator because he had no idea about the responsibilities the position entail, and who did nothing in the campaign period except to drunkenly sing Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.”

     The system on who should be allowed to vote here should really be overhauled.

     I am freakin’ depressed.

    *grabs a bottle of beer and sings "Wonderful Tonight"