Like Cardinal Advincula’s recognition of the “martyrdom” of Gomburza, such a vigorous reaffirmation of Church teaching on politics by the shepherds, pastors and consecrated women of the Philippine church could yet be another watershed moment for Filipinos.
On January 6 this year, Francisco Sionil Jose, novelist, journalist, social and political critic, and Philippine national artist for literature, died at 97. His death has irreparably affected the nation’s literary, social, cultural and political scene.
The May 9, 2022 presidential election looks like nothing we have ever seen before, and we have to do everything to prevent it exploding into a total “failure of elections.”
I do not see Marcos’s enemies slowing down on their attacks on the Marcoses. Responsible third parties will have to intervene to raise the level of the debate. But if there is no chance of this, Marcos may have to return the favor of his adversaries. His retrainers could begin asking questions not necessarily about Leni, but about the real forces (seen or unseen) trying to move this contest.
This tends to suggest that the May 9, 2022 elections will be waged as a personality or beauty contest, without any serious discussion of how the nation is to be governed, and systemic corruption stamped out. The Filipino voter cannot predict anything after June 30, 2022. And the president-elect who had promised to institute radical change will realize that his powers, under the Constitution, are far too limited to allow such change.
