Is the COMELEC covering up electoral fraud to make Bongbong Marcos lose the VP race?

Only a systems audit can prove that election results were not affected when a Smartmatic technician changed the program in the middle of canvassing of votes on election day, the 9th of May 2016. Apparently, that is something that is too difficult for some to understand. Even Senator Bam Aquino found it hard to comprehend. Or maybe he just refused to acknowledge Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s request for a systems audit. That was how he came across when he kept asking Marcos Jr if he had proof of his allegation of fraud.

Bongbong Marcos (with son, Sandro) worked hard to campaign nationwide only to fall victim to electoral fraud.

Bongbong Marcos (with son, Sandro) worked hard to campaign nationwide only to fall victim to electoral fraud.

Frankly, at some point during the recent Senate exchange between the two senators, Marcos Jr appeared understandably frustrated at the younger Aquino when he had to keep reiterating that one wouldn’t know the extent of damage the tampering had done to the program unless IT experts are allowed to open the electronic voting machines for inspection. But the incumbent President’s cousin, Aquino, seemed to be implying that Marcos Jr should produce evidence first before alleging there was fraud.

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Aquino came prepared to grill Marcos Jr but it was a good thing Marcos Jr knew what he was talking about. As a government agency, the COMELEC is not covered by the Bill of Rights. Marcos Jr did not have to produce proof of cheating to request the COMELEC to grant his request. The COMELEC is obliged to respond and explain to complainants like him and also to the public when they suspect fraudulent activities. Indeed, the circumstances surrounding the period over which Marcos Jr’s numbers started to slow down outraged a lot of concerned citizens. Some observed that his votes seemed to have stopped coming in around 7.30 pm and then later on, his almost one million vote lead over his closest rival Congresswoman Leni Robredo started to decline. Statistician David Yap observed a linear pattern in the way Marcos Jr’s lead over Robredo narrowed. For every 1k votes of Marcos Jr, 45k went to Robredo.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have noticed that Senator Aquino doesn’t seem to be working in the interest of transparency and clean elections. He acted like Robredo’s lawyer and came to her defence. It’s worth mentioning that Aquino was Robredo’s campaign manager. That role definitely conflicts with his role as a senator. A senator should prioritise the interests of the people, not his clients. To be fair, Aquino eventually conceded to Marcos Jr that he will also support calls for auditing of the electronic voting system.

What is also suspect is the way the COMELEC is taking its time deciding whether or not to allow an audit of the system to be undertaken. As of this writing, they have not confirmed if they will agree to Marcos Jr’s request. Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said they did not get to decide on Marcos Jr’s request as of yet. COMELEC Chairman Andres Bautista seems to be hiding from the media by being “unavailable for comment”:

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon Guanzon said the Comelec did not vote on Marcos’ appeal during the poll body’s regular meeting on Tuesday.

After the meeting, other Comelec commissioners told reporters to ask Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista for updates on the appeal of Marcos.

Bautista, however, declined to speak to reporters who sent him text messages and waited for more than two hours outside his office on Tuesday.

It seems someone from the COMELEC just wants the public to move on and forget there was tampering of the program. Ignoring complaints from the public is something COMELEC is good at. They did the same thing in 2010 and 2013 elections after concerned citizens also filed complaints. They expect the public to eventually lose interest in the issue as the days pass.

COMELEC Chairman Andres Bautista has refined the art of ignoring electoral fraud complaints.

COMELEC Chairman Andres Bautista has refined the art of ignoring electoral fraud complaints.

Bautista, who is a known Liberal Party supporter, was said to be a former Mar Roxas campaign manager. His poker face seems to be working to his advantage. He probably thinks he just needs to repeat his lame excuse “change is only cosmetic” and get away with it. Some people are accusing him of being in cahoots with Smartmatic to help rig the election results to favour a few Liberal Party candidates, not just Robredo. They say he had the password to the program and the Smartmatic technician couldn’t have done it without help from someone from the COMELEC. As someone else said, only the administration-led COMELEC would have the ability to commit fraud.

Hopefully, pressure from the public will not wane this time around. Filipinos should not waste this golden opportunity to expose criminal syndicates behind electoral fraud. Otherwise, this will happen again in future elections. Vote buying and other election-related fraudulent activities including tampering of electronic voting machines became massive, blatant and even acceptable under President Benigno Simeon Aquino’s term. His term should be called the scam years because of all the scams that proliferated under his watch.

The recent election has unfortunately exposed the deep-seated division in Philippine society. A lot of Filipinos turn a blind eye to breach in protocol perpetrated by Smartmatic and the COMELEC’s lack of action because of their dislike for Marcos Jr. They seem to think it is okay for him to lose even if he is cheated. Their hatred for the Marcoses makes them believe the end justifies the means. Anti-Marcos advocates also show their irrational behaviour when they lash out at concerned citizens who try to help maintain the sanctity of the ballot by accusing them of being “pro-Marcos”. They also bring up Martial Law atrocities even when the issue is about electoral fraud. It has become difficult to talk to some Filipinos who are still stuck in the Martial Law years. They are suffering from tunnel vision.

The perpetrators of electoral fraud are hoping the divisions in Philippine society will distract Filipinos from focusing on the real problem, which is the fact that the right of the people to choose their leaders is for sale to the highest bidder. The sad truth is, there is no real democracy in the Philippines. Millions of votes are being discarded and channelled to candidates who have the means to pay criminal syndicates. Only the Filipino people can end this vicious cycle if they want to.

103 Replies to “Is the COMELEC covering up electoral fraud to make Bongbong Marcos lose the VP race?”

  1. Whats more depressing is that a lot of people actually seem to want to move on from this. Damn. Its like they aren’t interested at all with knowing who really won.

  2. Some of the Filipinos have “Obsessive Compulsive Fear of Martial Law”. The Aquinos , Mar Roxas,Leni Robredo, Porky Drilon and the Liberal Party are conspirators of this Election Fraud. COMELEC Bautista, who is a cousin of Aquino, is the Mastermind of this Election Fraud. Maybe, they Bribed SMARTMATIC to commit the Election Fraud for them.

    It was a new electronic version of “Electronic Dagdag Bawas”…an executable file was inserted, at the right moment, at the right time…

    I recommend the following agencies to help in the investigation:

    (1) U.S. Election Assistance Commission – can accredit in test laboratories, the PCOS Machines. It can also certify, any voting equipment. The agency is experienced, and have the latest technology, to conduct such tests.

    (2) The Physikalisch Technische Bundesantait – a German agency that can certify the voting machines and electoral system. The agency is responsible for the integrity of elections in Germany and European countries.

    Bam Aquino is a “Bobo” He has done nothing as a Senator. He tried to “Legislate”, the advancement of Science and Technology in the Philippines. What an idiot…now, Bam Aquino is trying to portray himself as wise.

    Anybody, who is trying to stop the Audit of this 2016 election is hiding something. He/She is a conspirator of this Election Fraud.

    We must have a RECOUNT all votes, from the Vice President to the Senators to the Congresspeople. We must make our elections honest and fair. The time is now !

    1. It was the “Gang of Seven”, who masterminded this Philippine Election Fraud.
      They are: Aquino, Mar Roxas, Porky Drilon, Leni Robredo, the Liberal Party, COMELEC Bautista, and the SMARTMATIC.

    2. Sir even if we’ll have manual recount at this point, is it a guarantee that it’s fraud free? I saw some videos that only one person shaded ballots and the witness named LP candidates as the sole beneficiaries of the act..further, there are reports circulating that ballot boxes were kept at Drilon’s office. If this will be proven right, then I’d say election in our country is a farce..and i will not take part again in this play for the rest of my life. Sayang lang, sinasalaula din naman, walang silbi, nakakadismaya, nakakasawa,nakakapanggigil. Comelec ginagawang tanga at gago ang tao. Tengene nemen….

    3. what is so disgusting also is that many Filipinos just ignore this strong indication of massive frauds. are they sane? insane? bobotante? dami tlgang di nagiisip na Filipino

  3. No marcoses!!! They are bullshit. Kung sino man ang fraudster dito sila yun. baka nga sa manual counting kulelat sya..Ang kapal ng mukha mag pa recount na nadaya daw sya eh sya tong galing sa pamilya ng mandraya at magnanakaw.

    1. I’d rather have Marcos over Aquino anytime of the day. The former had enough sense not to act like as if they’re above the law while the latter enjoys doing the acts of blame shifting, patronage politics, glory hounding and power abuse in order to push his vendetta and agenda.

        1. Oh look at this failipino being a typical imperial manileno. No wonder why duterte wants to pass federalism thanks to scumbags like you.

    2. No Aquinos. You and their ilk are the pinnacle of bullshit.

      What if I tell you that Bongbong has a point? There are even reports that there is massive cheating in my late father’s home province in Basilan and most of the opposing candidates got ZERO votes. All of them are for Mar Roxas and Leni.

      So mandaraya at magnanakaw ka din. Deal with it. 🙂

      1. my friends who are INC said that in some stated places, they have capillas and its impossible ma Zero si Bongbong. thers is really massive fraud. what could we do to check it out?

      2. MASSIVE REPORT??? Asan ang evidence? Napakadali na mag report na may dayaang nangyari pero napaskahirap patunayan yan dahil puro hearsay lang. Di ako maka Leni ah. Dahil binoto ko, parehong talunan. Santiago-Cayetano. Pero move on. Tapos na eleksyon. Nakapag proclaim na. Ung sinasabi mong dayaan kung may sapat na ebidensiya, eh di mag file. Di mo ba napansin bakit hanggang ngayon, wala pang file itong si BBM at bunch of lawyers niya, dahil alam nila, di matibay ung mga ebidensiyang pinapakita nila or wala silang sapat na ebidensiya

        1. Lies. Nandyan na ang evidence. Pero hindi pinapansin ng COMELEC and the biased media so you’re blabbering is useless.

          It’s not about BBM lost. It’s about the death of democracy in the Philippines and the questionable integrity of COMELEC. Siyempre, dahil masyadong magmanipula ang media natin, hindi na papansinin iyan.

          As expected from an ATTENTION WHORE like yourself, you let your EMOTIONS run over so be proud for I exposed your hypocrisy.

        2. DIO,

          Don’t waste your time with this political “whore” (Elaine). She’s used to avoiding the the real issue of how the entire country is questioning the integrity of COMELEC, and, how a virtually unknown widow became the vice-president of this fucked up country.

          Elaine is used to telling bullshits because her entire life has been surrounded by lies and deceit, mainly by supporting a Yellow Party that is made up “Chekwas,” that is raping the country and impoverishing the people. Elaine and her family probably benefit from her Yellow Party and don’t want to see it go away.

        3. Elaine, tanga ka ba? yung mere changing the hash codes sa server ay illegal na yun dahil walang en banc resolution ng comelec. bakit binago sa oras ng bilangan? dahil gusto nila na hindi umangat o madagdagan ng malaki ang boto ni BBM o mga ibang kandidatong opposition, bagkus dadagdagan ang boto ng mga LP at si Leni. Isa pa, may video pa nga na isa lang ang nagshade ng balota at idinaan sa VCM at lahat yun pabor kay Leni at Roxas; sa OAV ilan ang nagreklamo na bakit si Roxas at Leni ang lumabas sa resibo eh ang ibinoto nila ay Duterte at Marcos? mga first hand evidences mga yan…. hindi mo nakikita mga yan? or simply ikaw ay kakulay mo ang mga mandaraya? Tanga ka eh….

        4. Elaine,

          How many Yellow Party and “Chekwa” members have you slept with that you can’t even tell the manner in which they had sodomized you, especially when their scums ran down between your legs and stain the ground you walk on?

          Aeta

        5. Meron pa palang kasing tanga mo. Kitang-kita sa comment mo na isa kang supporter ni Leni, ikakaila mo pa. Bakit? Nahihiya kang ma-identify sa mandaraya? Pero sa ginagawa mo, hindi mo maitatago na hindi ka lang supporter kundi worshipper ka pa ng mandarayang si Leni. Sa June 28 pa magpa-file ng complaint dahil kailangang maging solid ang evidence nila. Dahil alam nila na pagnakitaan sila ng kahit katiting na technicality, baka matalo sila. Alam naman kasi nila na mahirap ilusot dahil kampi-kampi ang comelec, smartmatic, LP at si Leni. Pero wag kang mag-alala, hindi natutulog ang Diyos. Lalabas at lalabas ang katotohanan at mapaparusahan ang tunay na may sala. Pati yung mga tagapagtanggol nila, may parusang tatanggapin. Itaga mo yan sa ulo ni Noynoy mong sinasanto. Kaya, ihanda mo ang sarili mo sa tatanggapin mong parusa mula sa Diyos. i-message mo ako pag natapos ang taon na ito at hindi ka pa napaparusahan ha. Wait ko.

      3. Agreed! Some public employees I personally know in Cebu confirmed of LP’s schemes and threats – losing jobs, no more 4Ps, and around 3k Php for each who wants to ‘volunteer’.

        Now, tell us about BBM’s.

    3. Bull shit din ang mga hindi naniniwala sa mga marcoses..
      Mga bobo..
      Kung di dahil sa mga aquino hindi sana maibebenta ang mga ibang island ng ating bansang pilipinas..
      Ang tatanga ninyu.. bwesit na bullshit pa.

      1. “Kung di dahil sa mga aquino hindi sana maibebenta ang mga ibang island ng ating bansang pilipinas..”

        If it wasn’t for the Aquinos, Cojuangcos, the Chekwas wouldn’t be the riches ethnicity in the Failippines and the Fliptards enslaving themselves as OFWs.

    4. And no more aquinos then yellowturd troll. All your retarded baldface did is nothing but credit grabbing and blame games. At kung mandaraya nga sya, patunayan mo sa korte. Ano sasabihin mo na binayaran lang ang mga huwes na humatol sa kanila? Tinuruan ka ng nanay mo na maging malisyoso ano bobong pinoy? Malaki lang ang nguso mo kasi puro kadramahan ang laman ng utak mo utak telebasura.

    5. kw ang gago… lakas ng loob mo na magsalita ng ganyan sa marcoses. bkit di ka ba nakinabang sa sa marcos? kaw siguro ang nagpost dito na pinaka bullshit kc di mo alam yung sinasabi mo… wala kng alam sa history.. bakit ano ba ginawa ng marcos sa pamilya mo? ani ba nagawa ng administrasyon sa pamilya mo o sarili mo? yumaman ka ba or gumanda ang buhay mo kc kasama ka nila nagnakaw sa pera ng taong bayan… marcoses spend billions of dollar in 20 years, aquino, ramos, erap, arroyo aquino spend trillions of money during thier terms.. alam mo ba yun.. sinong magnanakaw?… kapal ng mukha mo jaycob to say that.. go back to your highschool and master your history subject..

      1. Marcos is a hero. He stopped the BBL from happening which would have fractured our country and which would have given power to a terrorist group to run roughshod over Christians and indigenous peoples.

        So yes, may napakinabangan na ako. At ikaw rin, di mo lang alam. Kasi puro history lang alam mo, wala kang alam sa current events.

        1. hahahaha. are you sure na un ang nakapaloob na provision sa BBL? How do you say na BBM is a hero? So ang sinasabi mo na bibigyan ng power ang terrorist group, un ba nakalagay sa BBL? Nabasa mo ba ung provision? Ang lakas ng bilib mo Dick kay BBM. Sana binasa mo muna ung buong provision, lakas mong sabihin na may alam ka sa current events… nkakatawa ka. Bakit ngayon si DU30 eh binigyan ng puwesto sa gobyerno ang mga leftist? Bakit di ka umangal?

        2. @Elaine:

          WHORE. 🙂

          The BBL was said to be unconstitutional due to the fact that it only pertains to one group (MILF) yet BBM’s alternative is to ALL GROUPS and not just the MILF.

          Mas nakakatawa ka because you’re an actual ATTENTION WHORE and nothing else. Reply back and you’re proving my point since you’re doing nothing but to spread your own FAGGOTRIES on this page. Deal with it.

        3. @Elaine. Yes, MILF is a terrorist group. A bunch of guys who weren’t satisfied with the peace that the MNLF brokered with Pres. Fidel Ramos. They’ve been killing citizens ever since and their latest act has been an act of cop-killing. 44 of them in fact. Also, Pres. Arroyo tried to make an agreement that was essentially like the BBL and it was junked by the Supreme Court. Yes, BBM is a hero, he kept our territories intact and I can’t believe he’d get zero votes in some ARMM provinces where he met with governors to consult with them on the BBL, something PNoy couldn’t be bothered to do.

      2. History? Eh pera ng taong bayan ang siansbai mo na mga nagawa at napagawa ng idol mong si Marcos. Syempre pakikinabangan ko un. Eh tax un galing sa sahod ko ang ginamit niya. Kaya wala di mo dapat sabihin na nakinabang kami sa mga marcos. Ikaw ang bullshit at tanga. Di mo kasi alam mga ginawa ng marcos nung martial law, nagbubulagbulagan ka ba or sadyang tanga ka lang. Wag mong ipagmalaki ang mga nagawa ng Marcos, dahil pera ng mga taxpayer ang ginamit dun at di nila pera. TANGA

        1. Nah, it’s not just the tax that you pay. Most of the infrastructures that Marcos built up were mostly came from LOANS.

          Either you’re missing the point or you’re just TROLLING. I think it’s the latter.

    6. Mas bullshit ka, kasama ng mga may Hepa na katribu mo…lahat ng infrastructures na nasa Pinas, pinagawa ni Macoy para maging komportable ang buhay ko, gago ka, inutil, bobo!

      1. Eto pa isang tanga. Lahat ng infra pinagawa ni Marcos, oo tama ka para maging komportable buhay mo. Pero di nila pera ang ginamit na pagpapagawa ng mga sinabi mo. Tungkulin niya dahil siya ang pangulo ng bansa. At nasa kapangyarihan niya kung pano gamitin ang pondo ng gobyerno. At fyi, kung yan lang ang basehan mo para maging idol mo mga Marcos, back to grade 1 ka at dun ka sa exclusive school. Di lang pagpapagawa ng infra project ang dapat gawin ng isang pangulo. INUTIL

        1. Please, please. Talo ka na sa argument dahil puro ka ad hominem. Yes, tungkulin niya na gawin ni Marcos yan, but I have to remind you that after him neither Cory nor others did have a lick of infrastructures and other things that can help the people.

          30 years ago there was heavy foreign borrowing to support projects. Today, we are back to heavy foreign borrowing to support non-existing projects, but just to flood the system with cash. Thus, we have a glut in real estate, a car industry driven by low interest credits, a consumer market driven by easy to get credit cards, five fold smuggling, and gambling, illegal or not. Of course, what is obtaining is a BUBBLE economy, and they call that the fastest growing economy. I call it a donut economy as it is empty in the middle. If a hostile administration takes over in 2016, of course, they will burst that bubble economy so that the next administration will have a hard time bursting the lies and bubble of 30 years. That is the truth and not a lie.

        2. Haha. Kung ganun, yung Tatay lang pala ni BBM ang gumawa ng tungkulin nya bilang pangulo. Haha. Si Ramos, PGMA at Estrada may nagawa ring mga infrastructura pero itong administrasyon, di man lang makapagpatayo ng relief housing para sa mga Taclobanon!

    7. Isa kang MALAKING TANGA JAYCOB MAG RESEARCH KA AT MANGALAP SA INTERNET PARA HINDI KA NG MUMUKHANG TANGA ALAM MO YUN!!!

    8. psst…who is Alim? wrong answer will send you to where aquino and his gangsters were sent to and are now talking to satan a.k.a. jesus, 666 people’s god.

    9. Eh ugok ka pala eh. Pano makakapandaya si Marcos? eh wala naman sya sa position. Saka nikikita mo ba ang mga mukha ng mga taga-LP? Mga mukhang hindi gagawa ng mabuti. Mga mukhang pera, mukhang demonyo. Ska gumising ka na kupal. Hindi na panahon ng mga tulog ngayon. Karamihan sa mga Pilipino, alam na kung sino ang masama at kung sino ang tunay na mabuti. Kung sino ang maraming nagawa at kung sino ang wala talagang nagawa mula pa sa umpisa. Alam na rin kung sino ang walang malasakit sa bayan at kung sino ang tunay na nagmamahal sa bayan. Sana marealize mo na rin. Kung hindi talaga magbabago ang pananaw mo, magpatuli ka muna. Supot ka pa kasi eh.

    10. Hoy, mag research ka, bago ka magsalita ng ganyan.huwag kang magrely sa narinig mo lang. Mali yan. magbasa ka ng history ng lahat ngnaging presedente. at sino si Ferdinand Marcos. i research mo. ang mga nagsasabi ng ganyan sila ang makakapal mukha na walang alam sa katotohanan.

  4. @JayCob:
    We have to do manual counting and thorough investigation of the PCOS machine and the SMARTMATIC system. It is not for the Marcoses. It is for the future elections of the Philippines. It must be honest and fair!
    Anybody who is against the RECOUNT of the ballots and investigation of the :PCOS machines; the ballots used and the SMARTMATIC system is part of the : “Gang of Seven” !
    It does not matter who the people voted for in the election…if they like Marcos, Jr.; then, proclaim him, the winner. If they like Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo…then, proclaim them the winner. The issue in this 2016 election is: FRAUD by Aquino and the “Gang of Seven”…who tried to steal the election…

  5. 8 Things Millennials Got Wrong About the Marcos Regime
    by: Kel Fabie

    There is a saying that goes, “those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it,” and truer words have never been said, especially when talking about the Marcos era of Philippine history. It’s cool to play history revisionist.

    It’s cool to look at things that happened, and take a different viewpoint and interpretation of these events, and come away with a different understanding of what has happened. This is not what millennials are doing when it comes to the Marcos era, unfortunately: what they’re doing is ignoring very troubling issues wholesale in favor of some nifty sound bites that make our current situation look pathetic in comparison.

    I’m sure if Marcos had you taken without a warrant and then summarily executed for criticizing him, he did it in a “mahinahon” way.

    Let’s look at some of these claims about the Marcos era.

    1) The Assertion: While it’s true that there were some issues with the Marcos presidency, none of it would have happened if not for Imelda. She’s the reason why the whole thing ended up the way it did!

    The Reality: First of all, way to understate what happened by just calling it “some issues.” Secondly, are we seriously going to go with the Adam and Eve defense for the guy who was supposed to be the most powerful man in the country? You mean to tell me that this great, awesome man turned out to be such a softy for his wife that he couldn’t resist her when she asked for a little violation of human rights. 107,240 times.

    Let’s turn back the clock even further. Long before Ferdinand Marcos even met Imelda he was already convicted with murder, and was the guy who supposedly pulled the trigger on his own dad’s political rival. The story goes that he studied law, and even while incarcerated, easily topped the Bar Exams, and then represented himself in an appeal to the Supreme Court, who overturned his death penalty conviction. Impressive? Yes. But aren’t we also the same guys who look at really good lawyers with disdain because they let people get away with murder? Why are we suddenly getting wet over Marcos doing it now?

    Let’s look at his vaunted military service more, where he earned a ridiculous amount of medals for his service during World War II. Impressive, right? Right, except an overwhelming majority of those medals were lies. If he can make a lie this brazen, are we seriously going to take every other claim about his legacy without a hefty pinch of salt?

    2) The Assertion: The Peso was practically on equal footing with the dollar back in the day. Surely, this was a sign that we were a prosperous country under his time!

    The Reality: The exchange rate alone isn’t enough of an indicator as to whether or not a country is prospering. Just ask Japan.

    While it was true that the Peso and the Dollar were close to each other during the beginning of the Marcos era, let’s not forget that by the time Macapagal was president, the Peso already sank to 3.70 to a Dollar, and during the first quarter storm in 1970, the Peso went from 4.00 to 6.00 to a Dollar. It was not 1.50 or 1:1 during Marcos’s time. This did not happen.In fact, it’s clear that from the 3.70 Marcos began with, he managed the dubious feat of sinking the Peso to 20 to a dollar. That’s a devaluation of almost 600%, which, when compared to the devaluation of the Peso in the ‘90s, where it went from 26 to 41 to a dollar, seemed pretty ridiculous.

    Apropos of nothing, the “nakaraang administrasyon” who actually uncoupled the Peso from the Dollar, no longer allowing it to be 2:1 by default, was none other than Diosdado Macapagal. Makes you wonder if Marcos spent his first few SONA’s railing against the guy.

    3) The Assertion: Lee Kwan Yew was also a dictator in Singapore, but look where his country is now! It’s first-world, it’s first-class, and it’s everything you could ever hope for in a strong Asian nation! Marcos was doing the same thing for us, and we kicked him out!

    The Reality: No. No, he wasn’t. And even if it were true, the only reason you don’t hear people badmouthing LKY nearly as much in Singapore is that doing shit like that gets you in trouble over there. Or have we forgotten that Singapore isn’t exactly a democracy, really?

    The biggest difference between Marcos and Lee Kwan Yew was that for Marcos, propaganda was the end. For LKY, it was a means to accomplishing the things he wanted to do. Does that justify his own litany of human rights violations? Of course not. But this distinction is what allowed LKY to hold onto power for 50 years, almost thrice as long as Marcos did, to the point where Lee Kwan Yu was able to relinquish the position, yet Singapore still remains as prosperous as it had been when the man left the highest office of the land.

    Neither did Lee Kwan Yew send Singapore into crippling national debt thanks to his attempts at modernization.

    4) The Assertion: If the Marcos regime was so bad, why did the US tolerate it for as long as it did? Why did the international community at large just let it run its course? Surely, they saw something there that those of us too close to the matter didn’t.

    The Reality: People don’t just get to change a government just because they don’t think they like it, especially if it’s not their own government. Otherwise, do you really think the United States would have allowed Fidel Castro or Kim Jong Il or even Saddam Hussein to stick around for as long as they did?

    There’s also the little matter that the U.S. stood to gain much more if it let Marcos stay in power, particularly because he helped them establish a military presence in Asia (they had this war to fight or something in Vietnam, right?), and he was also a staunch ally against Communism, which was America’s agenda at the time. Speaking of which…

    5) The Assertion: Marcos was a Commie-fighter, while every administration after him pretty much just tolerates Communism! They’re a threat to our democracy and freedom!

    The Reality: How exactly did Marcos “protect” our democracy and freedom against Communism if he took both of these things away from us to “protect” us from Communism?!? Do you see the complete lack of logic in saying this?!? Martial law meant we were not free. He was practically running unopposed in his subsequent elections during the Martial Law era. If we were so afraid that the Communists were going to take our freedom away, why did we let Marcos do it for us instead?

    Oh, that’s right. He took it by force.

    6) The Assertion: Marcos was better because some of the best buildings and roads we use to this very day were built over the course of his 20-year regime. We were on the road to progress!

    We might have misheard what we needed for this progress, though…

    The Reality: We were also on the road to debilitating national debt, to the tune of $28.5 Billion when he left power. It’s really easy to build roads, buildings, and all sorts of infrastructural projects when, in abolishing Congress, you have complete control over the country’s coffers, and you have twenty years to do them.

    Think of it this way: the greatest cultural landmarks of some of the greatest countries in the planet were built on the back of slaves: Egypt and their pyramids, for example. When you look at how we’re still paying for Marcos’s debts all the way ‘til 2025, you realize who the slaves in this analogy happen to be? Its us. Yes, even you, millennial who wasn’t even a glimmer in his dad’s eye while Marcos was president.

    7) The Assertion: Why do we need to shame Bongbong to apologize on behalf of his dad? It was his dad. For all we know, he could be even better as president! Marcos 2016!!!

    The Reality: Because if he refuses to acknowledge what his father did, then there is something fundamentally broken in Senator Marcos’s understanding of what his family has done to this nation. None of those roads, none of those schools, none of those edifices could ever bring back the lives snuffed out by Martial Law, but a simple apology, a simple acknowledgment to not let these things ever happen again would go a long way towards healing the pain.

    Oh, of course not. Doing that might make his family legally liable, so best keep your mouth shut and pretend these things were just a small part of the era, right?

    8) The Assertion: Martial Law may have taken a few liberties here and there, but it was a great time for the country, because everyone was disciplined. People were nicer. Crime rates were low.

    The Reality: And if it were Martial Law today, we wouldn’t have the ability to debate its merits on the internet. I mean, seriously. We can complain about every single president who came after Marcos and say we wish we had better days, but when people complained about Marcos and wished for better days back in their time, they disappeared. For good. Just ask Liliosa Hilao. Oh, right. You can’t, because she was raped, tortured, and murdered for the “crime” of being the editor of the campus paper for Pamantasan ng Maynila and a staunch critic of Martial Law.

    Normally, when we criticize people, we get a sassy retort as a comeback, or maybe a string of four-letter words. Not rape, torture, and murder. If those three things sound a bit like an overreaction to you, that’s probably because they totally are.

    http://8list.ph/martial-law-philippines-millennials/

    1. Just wait for the new government to settle the corrupt officials. The new Supreme Court Chairman will decide.

  6. The Idiot’s Guide To Philippine Martial Law
    Authored by: Sade Andria Zabala

    Let’s face it; a lot of millennial Filipinos are stupid. No, I won’t sugarcoat it.

    There’s no other word to describe how a slew of teens-to-20-somethings can be deluded into thinking history professors, priests, US ambassadors, farmers, and ordinary citizens from the 80s banded together to rewrite history to “discredit” and “frame” the Marcos regime, even when they have access to credible information via the Internet at their fingertips.

    It’s strange because even my own Danish mother-in-law knows about Imelda Marcos and the Marcos’ legacy (solely from history lessons in school and reading the news), but many Filipinos don’t.

    But for foreigners still unaware, the Philippines was under Martial Law from September 1972 until 1986 by the corrupt Marcos family. Somehow my fellow Filipino youth seem to think it was our country’s “golden years” when everything flourished, despite numerous sources and facts stating otherwise, despite the murders, despite the rapes, despite the survivor accounts, despite the down-spiraling economy and worsening poverty.

    You’re worried America nominating Trump? The Philippines is literally a few ballots away from electing a poor man’s Hitler’s son, Bongbong Marcos.

    Clearly failing to grasp the election is not only a means of practicing our democracy, but is also an unofficial IQ test, Filipinos are rallying to support and vote for a proven criminal to become Vice President, while sharing articles from satire sites as proof of a giant conspiracy.

    To those of you who were too busy gossiping with your classmates, sending flirty texts under the desk to your crush, daydreaming about a celebrity, or plain-old sleeping instead of paying attention during your Philippine History and Economy 101 classes – let me help you stop making a fool out of yourself.

    MARTIAL LAW 101 FOR IDIOTS:

    1. “The Philippines was the best country in all of Asia! The peso was strong! Our economy was flourishing! THE GOLDEN YEARS!” – Yes, during the first few years of Martial Law, our economy rose. How? By heavily borrowing money from banks. We borrowed SO MUCH MONEY our debt rose from $2.9 billion in 1973 of the “golden years” to $17.30 billion in 1980 (Source). Our economy steadily weakened and actually grinded to a halt. Unemployment rates and inflation soared immensely while the Marcos regime monopolized businesses and gained commission from many companies. The Agrarian Reform platform was also a front in order for Ferdinand Marcos to gain ownership of his enemies’ lands, only 4% of farmers owned land when he was forced to step down from the presidency.

    2. “Ferdinand Marcos is my idol, the greatest President we’ve ever had. He had the highest score in history in many tests and he was very intelligent.” – So was Ted Bundy and he’s a serial killer. The funds borrowed above were heavily mismanaged, with Ferdinand Marcos the dictator pocketing most of the funds and using the rest to build useless infrastructure projects with cheap materials in order to appease the Filipinos and blindside them from the theft. Another slew of BS I read is that Ferdinand is not as “bad” as other politicians of present days. No, he is not. He is probably worse.

    3. “Their family has always been wealthy, that’s their own money.” – Tell that to the government as it continues trying to amass the billions of dollars stolen by the Marcoses. Bongbong even tried to contest a ruling by the courts to have $40 million be returned to the government. (Source). His sister is in the Panama Papers list (Source). And remember that iconic photo of a Martial Law survivor crying after finally being compensated 20+ years later? The money used for compensation was from the Marcos’ formerly secret Swiss bank accounts containing $800 million.

    4. “Bongbong was just a boy.” – During the EDSA Revolution when the Filipino people rose up to overthrow the dictatorship, Bongbong Marcos was already 28 years old wearing haute couture military uniform ready to help attack thousands of innocent civilians fighting for their rights. Back in 1981 when he was still 23, he was elected as Vice-Governor of Ilocos Norte and later on became Governor from 1983-1986.

    5. “The sins of the father are not the sins of the son.” – Certainly not. However, just as Bongbong was already grown enough to have pubic hair, he was fully mature enough to be aware of what his dictator father was doing and did not have any problems benefitting from his father’s regime or splurging their ill-gotten money. His father’s sins are not his own. He made his own sins. For instance, he never complained when his father handpicked him to be PhilComSat’s Chairman of the Board which gave him a cool monthly salary of $9,700 – $97,000 despite barely showing up for work. He received much more from other assignments and businesses the entire family received a cut from. People change? Bongbong is recently entangled in the PDAF scam for plunder. His other biggest blunder in the present? Trying to rewrite and whitewash history.

    6. “They’re good people, look at what they’ve accomplished.” – So what? So what if they arguably did a few things right, maybe? Bongbong installing windmills didn’t stop the Marcoses and their cronies from murdering the student who dared question Imee Marcos in an open-forum. If anything, he is possibly showing he is using the same tactic his father and mother did – put up a few visible projects, keep the rest of the money. Also, the Marcoses are barred from going back to the US after they violated a US court decision to give compensation to 10,000 Martial Law victims whose human rights were violated. And what about the accident during the construction of the Manila Film Center? Do good people refuse to rescue 169 workers buried under wet cement? Do good people use taxpayers’ money for Philippine planes to deliver freshly pumped breast milk to their baby left in the Philippines as the mom vacations in Europe? Do good people use government funds to go on a million dollar shopping spree? Or to buy custom-made jewelry, designer shoes, apartments in New York, and paintings by Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh? Do good people continue to laugh when we demand for them to apologize for the money they’ve stolen, the lives they’ve killed? Do good people refuse to say sorry despite irrefutable proof? Do good people call the victims of their crime“greedy” in order to avoid paying lawful compensation? Do good people censor media or imprison and torture 1,000 people, with hundreds still missing until today? If the Marcos family accomplished anything during their political careers, it’s that they cemented and institutionalized the art of corruption in the Philippines.

    7. “The Aquinos and Lopezes and others are the same. They are also corrupt.” – I don’t give a shit. We’re talking about how you are actively turning a blind eye to the ugly history of this country. Other political groups’ sins do not negate the Marcoses’.

    8. “But they cheated! They’re cheating now!” – IKR? Just like how the Marcos regime cheated during the violent 1986 snap elections.

    9. “You weren’t born at the time. You could never 100% know what truly happened back then.” – Sweetheart, that’s what books, news articles, the Internet, and this god damn article are for.

    10. “Bongbong is our rightful Vice-President. These are all lies and black propaganda. The sources stated were paid for by anti-Marcos politicians. You’re part of the conspiracy. And even if this article is true, you need to move on!” – Please don’t procreate.

    There are documentaries such as Imelda, Lest We Forget, and Batas Militar showcasing footage and witness accounts of the Marcos’ debauchery. In the comments section of these authentic videos, you’ll see Filipino upon Filipino cursing the video’s uploader for being a “liar.” In case I get the same reaction, let me tell you upfront I abstained from voting so there goes your logic of “You’re paid for by the opposition!”

    My fellow youth, sorry to say, spend more time ogling the latest “love team” celebrity than using google and going to the library to educate themselves. Everything is a giant ala soap opera conspiracy. They willfully choose to forget our well-documented history while screaming “Pinoy Pride!” because they’re too egotistical to admit they’re wrong, just like their beloved Marcos family.

    The Filipino millennial generation is taking a giant shit on every real flesh-and-bone human being who suffered under Martial Law, both dead and living. The Philippines being a third-world country is not an excuse for your stupidity and intellectual laziness, especially when continuously presented with verified evidence. You are traitors to your own Motherland, to your own blood.

    Some of you say you support Marcos because you admire Lee Kuan Yew and believe Marcos is the Philippine version.

    So let’s end this lesson by a quote from Singapore’s finest leader –

    “It is a soft, forgiving culture. Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over 20 years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot (the Marcoses have stolen) have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics.”

    Never again, Marcos and idiot Marcos-fanatics. Never again.

    1. LOL…bringing up Martial Law when the topic is electoral fraud. Way to go!

      No wonder the Philippines remain a Banana Republic. Millions of Filipinos cannot focus on the real problem. You cannot justify cheating committed by an Aquino just because you hate the Marcoses. It’s just going to be a vicious cycle of cheating if you turn a blind eye to fraudulent activity unfolding before our very eyes.

      1. Nailed it! Nice one Ilda.

        Typical yellowtard. All issues is always about Martial Law.

        Derailing and delusional.

      2. Okay.I’ll bite.

        If Bongbong has evidences of cheating, why not present it to court already? The official canvassing has started, so his window of opportunity is closing fast.

        1. How did you reach the comment section without reading the article? I assume you didn’t read it because if you did, you wouldn’t be asking that question. Kindly read it, thanks. The intro should already answer your question.

        2. ang ganda ng name mo…Gagong Lipunan, talgang gago ka! Mas magaling ka pa pala sa kanya eh…e di puntahan mo siya at sabihan mo bakit hindi pa niya pinepresent sa court?

      3. I don’t understand why people keep bringing martial law these days. My parents are ordinary citizens and they do not view martial law days the way this person view martial law. Juan,do have a personal grudge because someone from your family was a victim of martial law? And the simple topic here is bkt hind pnpayagan ng comelec ma-audit ang system? Wud you know? is there a provision in the law that prevents marcos to have a system audit? What’s hard in saying ok go ahead and audit for the sake of transparency? And yet hanggang ngaun hndi pa dn nggrant ang audit? What’s the reason for the delay? To give them time fix the system in a way that what they did is untraceable? I don’t understand. What’s the process ba dapat? Would you know Juan? Or martial law ang expertise mo and you haven’t researched on bbm electoral fraud claims? You didn’t even bother? Did you even try? Why would you? Your efforts are mainly martial law. Your advocacy on bringing awareness on it is commendable. But, the people who reads your words can already sense where your leanings are.

    2. I believe everything you’ve said is pure TROLLING. Because you’re actually off topic. But I want to tell you that not just millenials are stupid but ALL Filipinos are stupid because of what happened after 1986.

      30 years of propaganda and half truths. Now, the people are free, but stupid. The most dangerous lies are those that are nearest to the truths.

      And please stop the empty ‘Never Again’ slogan. It is for immature crybabies who love to play victims. It’s the truth. You don’t get it? Cry in a corner, son.

    3. So basically you’re saying it’s alright to cheat in the elections as long as it is to prevent another Marcos coming to power.

      That the democratic process (you know, will of the people and all that) can be suspended if the people are “wrong”. That is, if more people actually want to vote in the “evil man”, it’s okay to just throw out freedom to choose.

      And who gets to decide when it’s alright to cheat? Ah, of course. The household of the “housewife” whose house is so big it has its own zipcode. Because they are above reproach, amirite? They’re nothing like the Marcoses, amirite?

    4. Millenials aren’t stupid. They just started to think for themselves. Those older then them can no longer bully them into making them believe what they want to believe. Those things that happened in the past may be true, but Millenials also care about the future. They are aware that power will be passed on to them very soon and they are keen not to make the same mistakes as their parents for this country. I can assure you that Millenials are generally not corrupt, intelligent, earnest and hardworking.

      Now, I suggest that before you start “browbeating” these millenials about the past, I suggest that you look to your children, bow down before them and apologize for your generation’s failures and corruption.

      1. Funny how Yellowtards keep targeting Millenials and insulting them as if the only people who talk about Marcos Sr in a good light.

        Speaking as a millenial (technically), I grew up hating the Marcoses mainly due to the brainwashing via history books. The “Aquinos are good; Marcoses are bad” narrative had been shoved down our throats throughout my elementary years. But the narratives of the the common people tell a different story. My college professors, my friends’ parents, farmers, taxi drivers, etc all vouched for Marcos Sr. They all explained how life was a lot better during his time compared to now.

        Millenials didn’t conjure these ideas up out of thin air. If you bothered to ask them where these ideas came from, they’d all point to every authority figures in their lives. Yellowtards pick in millenials because of the simple fact that they didnt experience first hand the Marcos regime therefore they can easily bully us and make us feel dumb.

        But funnily enough, older citizens seem to be more passionate about the Marcoses than millenials, from my perspective at least. You should all see my coworkers (who are around their 40’s and 50’s) worry about Marcos Jr losing this election.

        1. That’s my conclusion too! My Parents are ordinary people as well as our neighbors and I haven’t heard horror martial law stories from them. While it’s true that there are people who have been victims of martial law, it’s also true that there are people, ordinary people who have led horror free life during the martial law. And yes the thing that stuck to me was what my father said na disipilinado ang mga tao noon. But history only included those horrors. I do not have statistics pero when you think about it, bka kaya hndi na ntransfer ang sentiments ng martial law Era to this generation kasi majority pa dn have led a normal life then. Observation ko kasi those who talks about martial law now are only relaying information pero hndi nmn sila family ng actual victims kaya texbook base ang argument nila. Kasi there are also articles and that says good things on martial law. Just a thought

    5. I kinda like you response there. Though I hope if there are any replies to this. Please refute the arguments that he made insteqd of accusing him of being a yellow tard. It will show that you can fair and open minded about this topic.

      1. His response doesn’t even respond to the article. Just a bunch of how stupid millenials are. He’s clearly diverting the issue. Thus if he’s diverting the issue, I am justified in reminding him about Hda. Luisita, Zamboanga siege, Yolanda, SAF 44, DAP, BBL (its unconstitutional and I voted for Marcos because if his enlightened opposition to it). And I’ll remind you that the Philippines got the Labor Code, OFWs, a lot of criminal and civil laws during the time of his father (any surprise why OFWs voted for the son?). Laws so brilliant that the crooks in Congress can’t be bothered to replace them. Fair is fair.

  7. @Jun Makabayan:
    Another YellowTard suffering from “Jaundiced Reality”…Marcos Sr. was a decorated Filipino soldier in WORLD WAR II. Honor is deserved where honor is due !

    Why did the Aquinos portrayed themselves as heroes and saints?

    They are in the history books, and ABS-CBN advertisements. There are no write ups or advertisements on them as: Japanese Imperialists collaborators; murderers; land scammers; political opportunists; corrupt; NPA supporters; etc…

    They named everything on their honor. Anyway, history will be the final judge ! The truth will come out !

  8. You still don’t get it do you? Even if Satan himself was cheated out of this “election” the fact remains that satan was a choice of the Democratic society and that any suspicion of fraud should be investigated and properly addressed. It has nothing to do with Marcos and everything to do with an organization that is headed by people of questionable morals. So much for decency and the straight path you hypocrites banner ad infinitum.

  9. We must just get over it and accept the fact that Filipinos cheat. Ever since that “landscape” win by Erap, everyone cheats to get the results they want. Gloria cheated. Noy-Noy cheated. Everyone cheated. They’re cheating even now. Ends justify the means and all that crap. It’s the reason why career-enders if it happened in other countries don’t end political careers here.

    It’s like when Pacquiao fought Mayweather: you can slow-mo the entire damn fight all you want and show Pacman actually should have won but the declared winner will still be the Money.

    Well, once again, the Money will be declared winner here.

    I would bring out the popcorn if it didn’t ruin the lives of people.

  10. Halatang obvious na nga – ayaw pang aminin.

    Fraud to be Pinoy! There’s definitely more pun in the Philippines!

  11. Bam Aquino has no business getting into the senate in the first place.

    Hi is cut from the same Aquino mold. Idiot voters.

  12. marcos is power hungry like his dad. He accused Robredo of cheating when there no iota of evidence. I used to like Bong Bong before he accused Leni of cheating without any evidence whatsoever.

    I do not like mar or pnoy but The elder marcos was a fking brutal
    dictator and thief in chief. The ilokanos and marcos apologists are revising history telling lies after lies that the Philippines was considered the tiger of asia bec of economic boom where the fact of the matter is the economy started to sink two years after he proclaimed martial law, and the country was dubbed as the sick man of asia for having a sick dictator and a sick hypocritical and heartless first lady.

    1. Cite specifics, please. Because unless Leni Robredo defects from the LP, then she is stuck as an Aquino puppet. Afterwards, Duterte will be ousted then Robredo will be president so the Yellows will still remain in power. Need I say more?

      30 years of trying to hide that Marcos was not unique in Asia. Dictatorship was the zeitgist of the time, and Marcos looked like a kindergarten in terms of brutality and plunder compared to the dictators of China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, South Korea, and Indonesia. 30 years of writing half truths in history.

      No, we are already the sick man of Asia after 1986. Because what you actually wanted is a government whored by media that keeps telling you “everything is OK” and never look forward for progress as a society and nation but to be part of a MEDIOCRITY.

      Please stop this crybaby crap. It doesn’t help either.

    2. “I used to like Bong Bong before…”
      __________________

      No, you didn’t. You can’t even be honest with yourself.

    3. Lol. The way you talk about the economy, its like you know how it works. Can you explain why after 6 years of supposed growth in our economy, we are still just as poor?

  13. Each candidate “behaved” well in the hope of being judged worthy of election. However, this system was disastrous when the country had become corrupt. For then it was not the most virtuous but the most powerful who stood for election, and the weak, even if virtuous, were too frightened to run for office.

  14. Failipinos constantly hear about voter fraud…but Failipinos don’t see huge amounts of vote fraud out there.

  15. Leni is also one of those people who is keeping the investigation to take place already claiming victory despite issues and evidence of anomaly. Her loyalty is to her party not the people otherwise, as a public servant, she’ll ask for a recount or investigation upon the discovery of possible electoral fraud, to redeem integrity of Philippine election. Proving and disproving electoral fraud, ending it at best, is a big contribution to the good of the society rather than winning a VP post in a dishonest election. But only an independent mind, and not a puppet, would make that choice. She should have learned from Mar’s mistake.

  16. There is no electoral fraud. It is only in the mind of BongBong Marcos. In fact, Bongbong declined to present proof about cheating in the vice presidential race when pressed by an opposing senator.

    In short, Bongbong is just pulling horse shit allegations up his ass, and his ilokano supporters and marcos apologist are shitting their pants.

    Someone here also said, “what happened to the 2 million INC votes,” insinuating that none of the 2 million INC votes were counted, or not all of them. Yet that person did not offer an ioto of evidence that all of the INC votes were not counted. Mental fking midgets, I swear, and so many gullible people buy their plethora of bullshittery

    1. Unfortunately, it seems Bombong somewhat has a point.

      There are reports in my relative’s home in Basilan that most of the opposition votes are, wait for it, ZERO. ALL of the votes are for the Liberal Party candidates, includes Mar and Leni.

      If something has a plethora of bullshitry, it’s your EMO-inducing anti-Marcos rhetoric. Hate to break it to you, but barking on the wrong tree.

    2. It seems that youre the gullible one if you believe the silence and evasiveness of the COMELEC, a body you can’t even jail or execute.

    3. @Ren Car

      Ugh…another one who didn’t understand the point of the article. Here, I’ll paste the most important parts:

      Only a systems audit can prove that election results were not affected when a Smartmatic technician changed the program in the middle of canvassing of votes on election day, the 9th of May 2016.

      Marcos Jr does not have to produce proof of cheating to request the COMELEC to grant his request. The COMELEC is obliged to respond and explain to complainants like him and also to the public when they suspect fraudulent activities. Indeed, the circumstances surrounding the period over which Marcos Jr’s numbers started to slow down outraged a lot of concerned citizens. Some observed that his votes seemed to have stopped coming in around 7.30 pm (after the Smartmatic technician changed the program) and then later on, his almost one million vote lead over his closest rival Congresswoman Leni Robredo started to decline. Statistician David Yap observed a linear pattern in the way Marcos Jr’s lead over Robredo narrowed. For every 1k votes of Marcos Jr, 45k went to Robredo.

      The only people who are gullible here are the ones who believe that Smartmatic technicians are really that concerned about showing the letter “ñ”. If they have nothing to hide, why did they skip the senate inquiry? And why is COMELEC not allowing the audit of the system? People can be forgiven they are in cahoots with LP.

      1. Has anyone here watched the interview of serge osmena? He said he was one of the people who discussed the transition from manual voting to vcm.and he mentioned that pinaguusapan palang yang vcm and prior pa implement yan alm na nila mga kahinaan ng machine na yan and goes on to say na cheating is possible. They oppose it before daw pero natuloy pa dn and those who have agreed they are still the ones handling comelec. Search that’s video yourself so you can validate this. GMA interview ata yon. And I haven’t heard news research on bakit nasabi ni serge yon. I wonder anu anu yung mga mentioned kahinaan nung machine na yon.

  17. Here is an article by a certain Andrew Lim about The Marcoses, including the Ilokanos and Marcos Apologists and his cronies.

    With Bongbong Marcos running for Vice-President in 2016 sans standard bearer and party nomination, one easily sees it as a tactical move, one that sets a higher future objective: becoming President of the Republic. It is a test, now or never, and would be the Marcos family’s last chance since Bongbong’s siblings are not interested and their matriarch is near the end of her life. A last chance to artificially cleanse their legacy and revise history.

    A common rationale – “he is not his father”, used in the past by the extreme Left when the Nacionalista Party adopted Satur Ocampo, and used lately by the plummeting Binay does not hold water because of the massive ill-gotten wealth. In both instances laughable since all their principles went out the window. Where exactly did the Marcos wealth come from?

    An even weaker argument – one that this writer believes is a product of the “easy forgiveness” culture encouraged by the dominant religion here- is that we should forgive and forget, and move on. As if the pursuit of justice is not as central and important to one’s faith as forgiveness.

    Marcos Squid Tactics

    Bongbong is not the least apologetic. He re-frames constantly, avoiding direct responsibility for anything, and tries to dangle alternatives to make people forget their track record.

    “We are here to serve. That has always been the culture in my family.”

    “Many cases have been brought to court here and in the US. But if you talk to people, they are not concerned about that. Filipinos are concerned about their lives today. They want answers: ‘Why are there drugs in our streets? Why is the crime rate going up at an alarming rate? Why is the educational sector miserable? Why is distribution of wealth not happening? Why is the government not doing anything?’ . . . This is what people are worried about, and that’s what I will address.”

    “What happened in 1986 happened already. These things have already been decided. To analyze it belongs to those historical scholars. But I am not a historical analyst. I am a public servant. All I look at is what people want from their public servants. It’s very simple: leadership, a plan, a program, policies to improve their lives.” [Marcos: Filipinos want solutions, not history talk]

    The senator shows no remorse about his family’s role in Philippine history.

    “I felt it to be an advantage, a blessing and I’m very thankful that I am a Marcos. . . . I am very happy that I was born into the Marcos family. I never felt it to be a burden.”[Bongbong: ‘I’m thankful I’m a Marcos’]

    This comment has earned some sharp rebukes, and I hope the President and others in civil society will take up the cudgels and rebut the Senator.

    Here’s the best tongue-in-cheek response to Bongbong, written by Boying Pimentel for the Inquirer; Boying was a veteran of the student protest movements in the eighties.

    “It’s tough to know what’s going on when there’s so much partying going on. And as we now know from the home movies retrieved from Malacanang after the Marcoses were chased out of the country, the dictator and his family loved to party!

    So how in the world would Bongbong know about the repression and the plunder that was taking place around the country. How was he supposed to understand this dark era of pain and brutality when all he saw were bright party lights and happy times.” [Bongbong Marcos is right: Why should he say ‘Sorry?’]

    And for levity, Boying has this to say in a separate article:

    “Yes, I think Marcos Jr. running for president would be a great idea for the following reasons:

    (1) He wouldn’t win. . . .

    (2) Bongbong would speak (and say crazy things). . . .

    (3) Imelda would be in the spotlight again, speak (and say crazy things). . . .

    (4) It would force the Marcoses to tap and move their hidden billions. . . .

    (5) It would remind young Filipinos what Marcos Sr. did to the country. . . . “[Why Bongbong Marcos should run for president in 2016]

    A Brief Primer on these Neo-Marcos Loyalists

    Most of the originial Marcos loyalists – the politicos comprising the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, the corrupt military men, and the civilians are either very old or have died by now. Kit Tatad, the youngest then in Marcos’ Martial Law cabinet is already in his late seventies. So who are these new supporters of the Marcoses?

    Intrigued by this development, I investigated this phenomenon some years ago by engaging a number of these neo-Marcos loyalists in online and face to face conversations. And this is the disturbing and sad insight I got: Many of these kids come from very dysfunctional and broken families. The absence of responsible adults in their lives make them vulnerable to targeting by the Marcos camp. Some have one or both parents who work abroad, and multiple problems emerge from this set-up: many of the marriages break down, one parent carries an affair and the long periods of separation lead inevitably to alienation amongst the family members. Gradually, all crumble. The kids are adrift. They have to fend for themselves – either economically, socially, mentally and for the unfortunate ones, in all of them.

    Lucky are those who have aunts and uncles or grandparents who can take over parental responsibilities, but they generally cannot give the constant attention and teaching, specially on political awareness.

    It is a very gloomy world these kids live in, full of frustration and despair. They see the country as hopeless, and their futures bleak.

    Enter the Marcos camp. Making full use of internet-era tools like Youtube, Facebook and blogsites, they create alternate universes of reality – that the Marcos era was a morally upright one, and cite its dubious achievements while glossing about the corruption and the abuse.

    The head-scratching thing about it, though is that due to the absence of educated and responsible adults in their lives, these kids lap it all up, when all they have to do is ask around and read the reputable news sources. They are content to just read the Marcos-supplied propaganda, many coming from non-reputable sources.

    A close parallel are the youthful ISIS recruits who are so disillusioned and distraught with their personal lives that they succumb to this romantic notion that joining ISIS is a noble adventure that would give meaning to their personal narratives. Female recruits are sold the fantasy of meeting their future husband-warriors in ISIS.

    Why does this happen? My personal theory is that the fable that there was once a golden era and there is a chance it can be restored is a soothing one; it eases all the pain and angst these kids are undergoing, and that things are not in their control. There is a saviour, a white knight that will banish all their demons and magically restore their broken lives. And that messiah, albeit a false one, is a Marcos.

    Not all of these Marcos loyalists are youngsters, though. On Raissa Robles’ website, I was able to converse briefly with an elderly loyalist. Intrigued as to her authencity, I requested her to provide bona fides. To my surprise, she did. Unfortunately, she never replied back, probably spooked as to how I was able to sniff out her real identity. I was most interested in having a real conversation with a person who lived through all those years and still come out in support of the Marcoses.

    Except for benefiting personally from the corruption, perhaps a faulty, selective assessment?
    •You can find our exchange here: Marcos Pa Rin; My husbands Lovers.

    There is just one practical way for Bongbong to make amends to the Filipino people. Apologize, and back it up by returning the rest of the ill-gotten wealth.

    Otherwise, he is just as evil as his father and mother, and should be rejected resolutely.

    1. This is a TROLL post.

      I just want to tell you that certain Andrew Lim is also a crook like yourself using saying “apologize, and back it up by returning the rest of the ill-gotten wealth”. By the way, why would he do that? So that the crooks like the PCGG can plunder them again? They claimed that they have half of the $10 billion but they couldn’t even pay a single Martial Law victim? Why is that?

      Of course, he will not apologize. Beside the point that this is a high stake political power play, gosh, this is a culture that thinks apology is weakness of character, instead of strenght in character. But if he cannot apologize by words, he is already doing it by actions. Think about it, Ilocos, of which he was a governor and where his sister is now, is the province growing its middle class the fastest in the country. Tourism and agriculture are in boom. Province has the lowest energy cost. And note this, the only LGU that has ISO9000, and thus, systemized. The accounting audit by COA says the province is always clean as a whistle. You can check what he has done in Congress, as well as what he is doing in the Senate; these are in the web. Yet, media suppresses news about them. To me, that is an apology in the works, an apology in progress. It is an apology better than just words.

      Hope this will ease out your blind rampage.

    2. Andrew Lim is a habitue of Joeam.com and raissarobles.com, both staunchly anti-Marcos blogs. He swallows everything against Marcos and spouts them out like indubitable Truth. His opinions are sacred Truth and Facts, never to be refuted. Say anything in favor of Marcos, he demands proof and references, not just proof and references, they must pass his standard, which means, only those that he agrees with, else they are dubious. He also demands for credentials, addresses, educational background, social/familial background, regional affiliation,and whatnots, because if you are pro-Marcos, there must be something wrong about you and any of these data would probably help explain to him why LOL.

      He also dabs in social psychology, conducted a few interviews and voila came to the astounding conclusion that millenials are somehow a product of a dysfunction which is why they are incapable of intelligent and rational thinking, the reason why millenials fall easily to the propaganda of the Marcoses.

    3. Ok. So if you don’t want your kids voting for Marcos, bow down before them and apologize for your generation’s neglect and corruption.

    4. @Ren Car

      What a lame article. There are so many older folks who voted for BBM. A lot of them like outspoken academic Antonio Contreras are old enough to know what it was like during the ML years. Why does this writer keep insisting BBM is only popular with the millennials? It’s ridiculous. He didn’t even back up his claim with data.

      A lot of the voters chose BBM not because he is a Marcos but because of his performance in the senate. Among other things, he helped saved the Philippines from being dismembered by PNoy’s unconstitutional BBL. Meanwhile, Leni supported the bill. She’s supposed to be a lawyer and should have known that what PNoy was trying to do was illegal. Goes to show she is into patronage politics. She did the same with the SSS pension hike. Just because PNoy vetoed it, she supported him even when she was for the increase before.

      1. I hope this is relevant with the topic. I agree with you. We lived before in the Visayas during the Marcos era. We didn’t experience bad and in fact most of the old people I know during those times were for Marcos. I don’t really know what happened during the Martial Law because our lives was just fine. But after 1986, they were all saying bad about the Marcoses and even my neices and nephews who are 20 years old and below recently were asking me how bad are the Marcoses? I could not answer and my only answer was the fact that i know. So to give them proper answers, i researched in the net about Human Rights Violation and stuffs about the Marcoses. And viola! Raissa’s blogs and all anti Marcos’ writers pop out. I read almost everything so as to satisfy my hunger for knowing the truth. Though i have read a lot of newspapers 30 years ago and even the event of the EDSA revolution, the original version in bisaya that day. And just came into one conclusion, maybe she’s paid and so with the rests. And how come she publishes her book during the elections? (To be continued) Got some work to do.

    5. There seems to be a lot of “Millenial bashing” from this guy and from the posts he’s been copying and pasting in here. Frankly, its disappointing, because really, what you are seeing from the Millenials is a reaction to the shortcomings of the generation that raised them. If the owners of this site will indulge me, I’d like to spam a post I wrote on my blog on this topic from the perspective of a Millenial.

      MARTIAL LAW AMNESIA? NOT!

      This article is a response to a Philippine Star Opinion Piece Written by Crispin C. Maslog dated April 12, 2016.

      An opinion piece recently appeared in the Philippine Star entitled Martial Law Amnesia written by Crispin C. Maslog. This is a cut and dried piece basically explaining how the Marcoses abused their power during Martial Law and because of this, we should not elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., as Vice President. The article begins with an explanation as to how the Millennial generation is not to blame for “Martial law amnesia”. Maslog explains that this is because their generation “did not teach history properly”, and then he proceeds to talk about how President Marcos wanted to increase his term, suspended the constitution and declared martial law and how everything went downhill after that et cetera, et cetera.

      I am a Millennial and forgive me Mr. Maslog, but this sounds eerily like what we have been indoctrinated in in school. This is the same history and the same discourse that is being taught to the kids today. I will give Mr. Maslog credit though, he has come to terms with the fact that it is not the Millennial’s fault for the historical revisionism and glamorization of the Martial Law period, but this is not for want of being told stories of the “horrors” of Martial Law rule. I’ll put it to you plainly, this is a reaction to the failures of Maslog’s generation.

      Let me be blunt about this, everything that the Martial Law generation did after 1986 makes me want to puke. What we are seeing today is a reaction to the incompetence and failure of the Martial Law generation to create a better and more prosperous Philippines after the dictator was toppled. Newsflash! The Millennial generation has come of age. No longer do we look up to the previous generation who, after 30 years, represents nothing but stagnation and incompetence to us. My generation knows that what we want is a leader who has genuinely created in us a sense of hope for the future—a leader who, to us represents a future that does not involve having to choose “lesser evils”, a country that is united to achieving status and prestige.

      -o0o-

      These times remind me of 2010. There was a man, then running for President, his name was Gilbert Teodoro. Of all the candidates then, it was only he who could give us a vision of the Philippines “taking off”. His vision of the Philippines then was one where the Philippines had a credible military, a booming economy and self-sufficiency. A lot of the youth could relate with this and it is not surprising that in college polls, Teodoro always came out on top. My generation wanted this man in office. Instead, the Martial Law generation disappointed and further disillusioned us when, riding on a wave of sympathy and nostalgia of the Cory years, voted her son into office knowing full well that he was not prepared for such a position.

      Times have changed though, in 2010, a lot of Millennials were still under 18 years old. Many were in college or were fresh graduates—we didn’t have a say at all. Now, the Millennials are all above 18 years old, many are independent and holding positions in middle to upper management, many are married and have children. The Millennials are becoming increasingly aware of the political and persuasive power they hold and are more than willing to think for themselves. On the other hand, the Martial law generation has aged, many have died, others have lost parental authority over the Millennials. Yes, that generation has failed and disappointed us Millennials. We all know what happened after—six wasted years.

      The article ends stating:

      The history of this economic plunder is one of the blind spots in the minds of the Filipino millennials today. It worries me and my generation no end, that the son of Ferdinand Marcos is running for vice president of the land, and be just a heartbeat away from the presidency. If that happens, philosopher George Santayana may again be proven right when he said long ago that a people who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat it.

      My generation knows this. Our history of economic plunder continues. It continues today with the mismanagement and cronyism of the current administration. With all due respect to Mr. Maslog, my generation lives through this, every day when we ride the decrepit trains, pay for overpriced electricity and telecom, line up for hours at government offices, see news of starving farmers and yet another massacre, whenever we see incursions in our territory and how powerless our military is to stop it. Make no mistake, we are repeating history, it just looks like the role of villain and hero has been reversed.

      1. Thanks, Dick!

        Didn’t know you had a blog. Good of you to speak up for the millennials. Like I said before, atrocities and abuses also happened after Martial Law and the Philippines has been under the rule of the Aquinos and their allies for more than 30 years -longer than Marcos.

        There are a lot more oldies who voted for BBM. I know Tiglao who was even an activities during Martial Law voted for BBM. The anti-Martial Law advocates are wrong in their analysis, as usual.

        1. Thanks Ilda. Like you guys, I took up writing for its therapeutic value. And well, I wrote that because I despise the condescending attitude people like Lim and Contreras have with people of my generation. We’ll be in positions of power very soon, some 20 somethings just became mayors in this last election!, people of my generation generally do vote according to what their conscience tells them. In my circle, were fairly evenly split between Leni and BBM, so I don’t think its fair to generalize us as gullible or stupid.

    6. for heaven’s sake, we’re talking about the electoral fraud! why are you responding with this copy paste crap?! and yes, you are free to visit anonymous philippines’ page and get a copy of leni’s PERFECT votes while the rest of her rivalries got nothing. what a feckin troll… it doesn’t matter whether he’s a marcos or not, we should not allow this. we’re a democratic country and our voices must be heard. bullshit aquino doesn’t have any rights to dictate us on who’s going to rule this country!

  18. The Most sensible article I have read so far. Thanks man. This is a battle for truth. And yes, fraud is almost synonymous to philippine election. It has to stop and the time is NOW. Thank you for this piece.

  19. Your photo caption says: “Bongbong Marcos (with son, Sandro) worked hard to campaign nationwide only to fall victim to electoral fraud.

    I think what’s more depressing is the sight of senior citizens who voted for BBM. Those old folks who braved the summer heat just to go to the polling centers. Those grandparents who waited patiently for their turn to cast their votes inside the hot polling precincts. Those lolos and lolas who had to endure some rude behavior from some poll workers because they have difficulty understanding some instructions about the voting procedures.

    The same can be said to those people from far flung barrios in the province who had to walk kilometers just to reach the voting center in their area. Special mention to those who are from Mindanao who not only struggled to reach the polling precincts because of its remoteness, but because of fear from harassment and intimidation from private armed groups of politicians who’ll cheat at all cost to stay in power.

    And of course, people who allotted time, money and effort to flock the bus stations, ports, and airports just to be able to vote in their home provinces on election day.

    Its just a pity that their votes were stolen from them in the end.

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