NVDB005_-_CH_3.010._A_Misinformation_and_Disinformation_-_Marie_Antoinette-4

55 — DP Vol. 05

Regional Security Dilemma: Trends, Directions, and Illusion

or to vote for them, many Robredo supporters did not only give their time and effort, but also spent their own money. This was evident in rallies with hundreds of thousands of attendees, reaching a high of up to one million, where performers and attendees would offer food, distribute campaign materials, offer free entertainment, and so much more. And this was apart from volunteer initiatives captured in house-to-house campaigns, flash mobs, caravans, murals, songs…

Many describe the pink movement as extraordinary and inspiring. And it can be a formidable opposition movement for good, able to mobilize quickly for a common cause during Marcos, Jr.’s Administration.

While their numbers are far from the votes cast for Marcos, Jr.--with Marcos, Jr. winning with a 30% lead, the passion and perseverance of each pink volunteer outweighs that. This daunting resistance is a tough

feat for an online troll army and a voter base—albeit very large—mostly driven by transactional politics.

But if the pink movement is so formidable and daunting, why was it unable to stop Marcos, Jr.’s win? The reason is that the pink movement is only a couple of months old. It didn’t have sufficient time and resources to counter the Marcoses’ efforts to regain power since their return from exile in 1991, the more than 6 years of their PMD strategy, a roughly 30-year long education crisis, and the fact that Filipinos have taken their democracy for granted for decades.

The conduct and outcome of the 2022 Philippine campaign and elections aren’t just slaps in the face of Filipinos wanting better for their country, but a brutal beating. Yet, if this is what it takes to get large swathes of the country to wake up and radically change things– especially through the pink movement–then so be it.

A picture shows “pink movement”, a political campaign by presidential candidate Leni Robredo during the Philippine Elections 2022. Photo: Randall Boogs Rosales