MANILA, Philippines — As her archrival took a wide lead in the partial, unofficial tally of votes, Vice President Leni Robredo told her supporters that the 'Kakampink' movement that was ignited after she announced her bid for the presidency should not end even after polls close and the counting ends, rallying her supporters to continue fighting even as she acknowledged that the voice of the people is getting "clearer and clearer."
Past Tuesday midnight it was evident that Robredo was poised to lose the presidential race to Marcos, who maintained a solid lead in the preliminary count with over 28 million votes, while she only had over 13 million votes.
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But in her message to supporters at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Robredo cited reports of "irregularities" that marred the elections, which has led to some people still waiting in line to cast their vote as thousands of vote-counting machines and some SD cards bog down.
"Kaisa ninyo ako sa paniniwala na kailangan isalamin ng halalan ang buo at wastong tinig ng taumbayan. Mahalagang maging mas matibay ang tiwala ng tao sa proseso ng ating demokrasya. Gagawin natin ang lahat para maabot ang layuning ito," Robreso said.
(I am one with you in the belief that this election should mirror the full and proper voice of the people. It is important that the trust of the people in this democratic process be stronger.)
But, she continued: "Bagaman may hindi pa nabibilang, bagaman may mga tanong pa sa eleksyon na ito na kailangan matuldukan, palinaw na ng palinaw ang tinig ng taongbayan. Sa ngalan ng Pilipinas na alam kong mahal na mahal ninyo, kailangan nating pakinggan ang tinig na ito dahil sa huli, iisa lang ang bayang pinagsasaluhan natin."
(While there are some votes not counted yet, while there are questions on this election that needs to be addressed, it is becoming clearer and clearer what the voice of the people is. In the name of the Philippines, which I know you love, we need to listen to this voice because in the end, we just share one nation.)
Still, Robredo vowed that she will not abandon her lifelong advocacies and appealed to her supporters to join her in this battle.
"Kakailanganin ng bansa ang inyong patuloy na pakikilahok, hindi lang ukol sa anumang kahihinatnan ng bilangan at halalang ito, kundi sa pagsusulong ng katarungan, ng karapatan, ng dignidad ng Pilipino sa mga susunod na panahon," she said.
(The nation needs your continued participation, not just in the outcome of the counting and this election, but in the pursuit of justice, rights and the dignity of Filipinos in the future.)
Volunteers ready to heed Robredo's call
Cleo Calimbahin, who teaches political science at the De La Salle University in Manila told Philstar.com that the volunteer movement that buoyed Robredo’s presidential campaign can harness its power to hold the next administration accountable.
"They can continue to organize and mobilize to hold the next government accountable. This is participatory politics and for as long as they are more constructive rather than toxic, they can go a long way,” Calimbahin said in an email.
This is exactly what volunteer organization Dapat si Leni would try to accomplish now that the country has entered what it called a "dark timeline" in its history. Claiming over 10,000 members, the group’s spokesperson, Clyde Gregorio, told Philstar.com that Robredo’s loss is not the end of the road for them.
"I would like to also envision that we would still be at the forefronts,” Gregorio said in a phone call. "There’s a lot of collective energy that’s very optimistic and idealistic and it would be such a waste if we would stop just because we’ve entered a dark timeline."
It's more of the same for Robredo, who said her Kakampinks created a movement never before seen in Philippine politics. "Napakalaking tagumpay nito at maituturing lang na bigo ang kampanya natin kung hahayaan nating malusaw ang nabuo nating samahan," she said.
(This is such a huge victory and our campaign will only truly lose if we will let the organization we built be dismantled.)
No shock
It is third time’s the charm for Marcos, who had twice lost in political contests with Robredo before: First in the 2016 vice-presidential race and then in his poll protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
Robredo’s apparently massive loss to former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. does not come as a shock. After all, the nation has been shown surveys by private pollsters indicating that she is bound to lose to him.
Then there was also Robredo’s problem of being the underdog in a race dominated by Marcos who had a well-funded political machinery and a well-oiled propaganda campaign mainly waged on social media.
Compounding this problem is the failure of the opposition, or at the very least presidential candidates not affiliated with the administration, to consolidate at the beginning of the election cycle to mount a strong resistance to a Marcos resurgence.
Robredo attempted to hitch a ride to Malacañang on the pink wave of her supporters who campaigned for her in their communities, fought disinformation seeking to discredit her, and showed up in the hundreds of thousands at rallies where they endured heat, rain, thirst and hunger just to hear her speak.
But ultimately, the mammoth crowds at her rallies were dwarfed by a larger sector of society longing for the return of a Marcos to the presidential palace.
Dark times for key sectors
For some key sectors, Robredo’s loss is theirs as well.
Like for Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay, who warned of a “deja vu” of the “human rights crisis” experienced under Marcos’ predecessor, President Rodrigo Duterte, and under the brutal martial rule of his father.
"The democratic backsliding and the deeper plunge into a climate of impunity are the ominous consequences," Palabay told Philstar.com in an online exchange.
Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, said a Marcos presidency "bodes a return to the dark ages" for the environment.
"[Marcos Jr.] has vlogged a lot of rhetoric on climate action, but on the contrary has refused to account for the various atrocities of his father’s former dictatorship in which he was party to,” Dulce said, particularly picking on the planned revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which he said is a "false climate solution that poses radioactive risks."
Hya Bendaña, a daughter of a jeepney driver, said she sees that Robredo losing the elections would result in the continuation of car-centric transportation policies, which would result in the worsening of the traffic crisis in cities.
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines vice-chairperson Kath Cortez also sees “darker and more frightening times” for the media under the Marcos administration as she fears that it is possible for the incoming president to replicate what his father did to gag the press.
“We expect that more cases of attacks on press freedom will happen in the next six years of his administration,” Cortez told Philstar.com in an online exchange in Filipino. “We fear that even more news outlets and journalists will be forced to censor their reports in fear that they would become the next target of closures or any attack.”
Indigenous people, too, are seen to be affected by Robredo’s loss in the elections, with former Rep. Teddy Baguilat (Ifugao), who ran for senator under her ticket, telling Philstar.com in a phone call that their future is “very bleak” considering that other candidates do not fully understand their issues.
For Dr. Eduardo Barrenechea of Doctors for Leni-Kiko, Robredo’s loss means they and their countrymen would have to continue to face “less than ideal conditions” in healthcare, but this would not mean the end of the world.
“We will continue to fight the good fight for the very people we serve and care for. We will continue to provide medical care as best as we can, despite the difficulties with the current limitations and barriers that stem from existing health structures and policies,” Barranechea said in a statement.
But Bonifacio Ilagan, a Martial Law victim and one of the convenors of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang, painted a bleak picture of a Marcos victory.
"Goodbye to the rest of the ill-gotten wealth that the Marcoses still possess in their estate, goodbye to the rationale of EDSA 1986. The convictions that Imelda and Marcos Jr had been slapped with could no longer be carried out. And we will go down in history as a people who have never learned its bitter lessons," Ilagan told Philstar.com in an email.