Broken Uniteam, signpost to hope

CEBU CITY, Philippines —Political analysts predict that the 2028 elections will become another theater in the war between the Marcoses and the Dutertes.

Vice President Sara Duterte, according to several surveys, remains the leading contender for the presidency. One survey, however, shows Naga City Mayor Maria Leonor Robredo ahead of the nation’s no. 2 in a hypothetical matchup in which the former vice president would run once more for the presidency, this time in tandem with Sen. Rafael Tulfo.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his supporters, observers say, will do everything they can to retain Malacañang for another term—one that would ultimately protect their political interests.

For sensible voters, supporting the best candidate who represents neither the Marcoses nor the Dutertes is not only a patriotic duty. It is also a moral imperative.

The Marcos restoration was years in the making. The communication campaign that paved their return to Malacañang, however, was anything but redemptive. As early as 2013 or nine years before the 2022 elections, videos portraying the Marcos family as victims and the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution as a sinister power grab had already begun circulating on YouTube. As election day drew near in 2022, online disinformation went into overdrive, depicting the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s regime as the golden age of Philippine history and promising a new era of prosperity built on the myth of Tallano gold under his son’s presidency.

Who orchestrated that nefarious campaign, one that greatly benefited the Marcos-Duterte alliance?

Reports archived by global news organizations continue to document how the internet was systematically flooded with content promoting the BBM-Sara “Uniteam” while simultaneously attacking Robredo.

Here is part of a report, dated May 6, 2022, from Agence France-Presse:

“Leni Robredo, the incumbent vice president, is the last obstacle to the controversial clan achieving their goal of returning to the presidential palace they fled in disgrace in 1986 following a popular uprising.

“Social media groups supporting Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s bid for the top job have bombarded Filipinos with false and misleading posts about Robredo on platforms where they rank among the world’s heaviest users.

“A string of doctored photos and videos viewed tens of thousands of times have sought to portray Robredo, 57, as stupid, unfriendly towards voters, and a communist.

“Dozens of other bogus claims targeting her have flooded social media.”

A veteran journalist who shall stay unnamed once told me that Robredo’s camp, had they wanted to, could have filed a robust electoral protest. But one would have cost billions of pesos. So, all that we have for the record is Robredo saying they found no evidence that she was the victim of poll cheating.

Still, anyone may understandably characterize the Marcos victory, accomplished with no small help from Duterte and her supporters, as morally bankrupt. Did not the camp of both Uniteam candidates fail to stop the propaganda that unduly glorified them and character-assassinated Robredo?

Not every de jure victory is built on de facto honesty.

Gaining the seat of power does not justify inaction amid widespread historical distortion.

Uniteam is no more, and the nation’s balangay now sails between the Scylla of the Dutertes who are sympathetic to Chinese foreign policy that scoffs at our fences — not to mention unrepentant vis-a-vis the carnage of the drug war — and the Charybdis of the Marcoses who, as a reported costly rebranding operation suggests, remain loath to make reparations, which they owe the Filipino people, for historical injustices that occurred on the late dictator’s watch.

The next 22 months, which will include, among other defining events, the denouement of Vice President Duterte’s impeachment trial, offer Filipinos more than enough time to recognize the urgent need to change course.

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