EDITORIAL: The 2022 elections – why so different? by Eric Paulin

Yesterday, May 7, 2022, marks the official end of the period for both local and national campaign, two days before the national elections on Monday, May 9. This is as stipulated in the Omnibus Election Code and Resolution 10695. From February 8 up until yesterday, we have witnessed how the campaigning landscape has drastically changed as compared to previous elections.

The primary question focuses on why this year’s election mean so much to the 67.5 million Filipino voters who are either eager for change or want to see the improvements they favor carry over. The outgoing administration has faced numerous economic, environmental, and health-related challenges, the major one being COVID-19. Although every corner of the world has suffered from the deadly virus and its economic impact, the fact remains nonetheless that the government and the officials it puts on different sectors have pivotal parts in whatever outcome the pandemic has resulted to in the Philippines.

Photo credits: Change.org - Duterte's campaign in 2016

Now that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic, it is undeniably coinciding with the election: a huge turning point for the country’s welfare. The new set of leaders that we will put in positions will have a huge role in uplifting us from one of the darkest eras the country has faced.  That is why it is perceived by many that this upcoming election is symbolic for hope – for change. The new president to be proclaimed soon will inevitably face mammoth problems and the Filipinos are all hopeful towards the capabilities and character of whoever sits in Malacañang.

In connection to these, we witness extreme deviations in the 2022 elections versus all others in the past. In this particular election season, a lot of things start to matter which do not use to.

Now, crowd estimates during sorties and rallies matter.

Vote buying matters.

Attending debates and every single word the candidates say matter.

Answering interviews matters now.

The color of the clothes we wear matters now.

Even the things we share and post on social media make such a great deal right now.

I am not saying that these things are ignored before. They also do matter in all elections. However, this year has seen these things grow in the limelight. The small things we do and share are criticized by others, which tend to be either constructive or destructive. The Filipino people have never been this diverse and divided in expressing political opinions. Friendships and kinships are impacted. People exchange unhealthy arguments in person and online. Why has this happened?

Perhaps the game changer in the elections this year is the way social media has developed. We do not have this kind of social media influences back in the 2016 elections. How much more in the previous ones? In recent years, we are more introduced to the features of titanic social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Tik Tok. Information dissemination, which uses to take place in old-fashioned channels, now effortlessly happens in these platforms. The access to data and information has never been this easy. The publication of information is likewise as easy.

And the drawback is? The 2020s have been the height of misinformation.

The way people perceive this upcoming election is polarized to two far ends. There are in-betweens as the product of a genuine scrutiny over the candidates. Still, we cannot deny the up-to-date observation that misinformation has drawn the people to two different sides of the ship. The problem is the people themselves do not recognize the authenticity of the sides they choose to belong to. We are so overwhelmed with the flow of information from all four directions that we just take pride of what we identify as right. We start to see each other as enemies. We don’t settle down; there is no compromise.

Technology has taken over the best of us. Social media has swallowed our values and norms that encompass love, compassion, and forgiveness.

Still, what the Filipinos never lose is hope. That is why after May 9, whatever result it leads us to, we are all hoping for it to end in peace. Let misunderstandings diminish and acceptance be practiced. The Filipino people are not the rude kinds. They will respect and support whoever wins the seats in both national and local elections. No matter how unique this election has been over the previous ones, let it conclude with how every election should conclude: in healing.