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Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Election violence

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“Our polls have always been marked with killings.”

We have been having elections since 1907 when the first members of the Philippine Assembly were elected during the American colonial period. That is 115 years of political experience that we should be proud of. Yet, after all these years, we have not learned how to conduct a violence-free election. Political violence has become a feature of every election in this country since we gained independence in 1946.

Just two days ago, I came across a report of a vice mayoralty candidate being shot in Mindanao. This is in spite of the many efforts of the government and well-meaning citizens to conduct free and peaceful elections. What does this say about us Filipinos? By now, we should have already attained a level of political maturity not to resort to violence in order to win an election. But alas, we have failed in this miserably. Why we continue on this trajectory should be a very good subject of study so that we can find a way to once and for all stop this despicable and embarrassing practice of ours. We will again go to the polls in four days which we hope will be conducted as peacefully as possible but somehow, I am pessimistic about this because we never had an election without any report of violence. For some reason, local elections as far as records are concerned appear to be more violent than national elections. The single most violent case of political violence in the country however, was on November 23, 2009 when 58 people were ambushed and brutally killed in Maguindanao province. Although the tragedy shook the conscience of the nation, the horror of what happened that day still reverberates up to the present. Some of the perpetrators have already been sentenced and are serving jail time but it is my understanding that the whole case is not entirely over.

In the two months preceding the election on Monday, I have the impression that violent incidents related to the election that resulted in multiple casualties seem to be fewer. We however, will still have to wait for the final tally to be released by the Philippine National Police to see if this year’s election would indeed be less violent than the last one. Since 1998, it appears that the 2004 election was the most violent with 189 being killed and 279 injuries. In 2007, it was 121 dead, 176 wounded and 2 missing. For 2010, we had that single day massacre of 58 people. In my long years in the service spent enforcing Comelec orders during elections, I have often wondered what drove people to violence during elections. To think that majority of the casualties are simply the foot soldiers of politicians who against all rational logic are willing to risk their lives for their political patrons. I never did find a satisfactory answer. The allure of political power must be an intoxicating elixir that those who weld it have a difficult time letting it go. As we often hear, there are two kinds of candidates. The one who is cheated and the one who is proclaimed. No one loses. Defeat is hard to accept for some people. That is why some candidates go to extraordinary lengths to ensure election victory including resorting to illegal means like vote buying, intimidation, violence and cheating. The sad thing is that many consider this as part and parcel of our electoral process. In spite of strict and tight Comelec controls, we still see the laws of the jungle being played out in many parts of the country every election. Another political practice that has taken root is that holding elective office has become some kind of a family enterprise where members of a family take turns running for office if the term of one member is about to end. Many of the candidates we see are the same people belonging to the same families running against each other. That is why there are actually very few families throughout the archipelago whom we the people are electing to run the country. It is scandalous but that is the sad reality. Political dynasties are perhaps driving political violence but whether there is a direct correlation between the two is something that needs looking into. If there is, this might provide the necessary impetus to come up with an anti-political dynasty law as mandated by the Constitution.

We need a leader who can put an end to it but who? Let’s see what happens after May 9. In this part of the world, we have had the longest experience when it comes to elections. Unfortunately, we have really nothing to show for it as an example for the rest of our neighbors to follow. It’s a shame.

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