Thread: Dirty tricks allegations mar last days of Philippine election campaign

Philippine election rivals traded allegations of dirty tricks and vote-rigging Friday, in the final stretch of an acerbic campaign that is tipped to bring the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos to power.


After months of fierce campaigning marked by relentless misinformation and an online whitewashing of the country’s violent history, rivals Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Leni Robredo implicated each other in underhand tactics.


Marcos Jr — the son of the late dictator and notoriously kleptocratic first lady Imelda Marcos — is predicted to win Monday’s poll by a landslide.


The Marcos campaign on Friday urged supporters to “protect their votes” against unspecified attempts at vote-rigging.


“We’ve already won!” Marcos Jr said. “Just make sure you guard the votes on Monday — don’t sleep… we know that when we sleep, a lot of undesirable things happen.”


The Marcos campaign also accused Robredo of being “toxic, divisive and acrimonious” and having “associated themselves” with shadowy political groups.


Robredo has campaigned on a promise to clean up the Philippines’ chronically corrupt politics.


The 57-year-old lawyer, and current vice president, has attracted fevered support from progressive young Filipinos.


Despite her deficit in opinion polls, few are ready to completely rule her out, as febrile rumours swirl about the accuracy of polls that currently put her on 23 percent of the vote versus Marcos’ 56 percent.


With all still to play for, her campaign took legal action on Friday to bat back potentially damaging rumours that she is in league with the Communist Party.


Unproven allegations that party founder Jose Maria Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands, was advising her campaign recently resurfaced in Marcos-allied media.


In a complaint affidavit filed with the prosecutor’s office Robredo’s spokesman called the allegations “fabricated” and “fictitious”.


“This crossed a line,” Barry Gutierrez told reporters.


“This is not a vlogger, it’s not some random influencer on social media putting out criticisms. This is supposedly a respectable member of the journalism profession.”


– Echoes of the dictator –
Despite a lack of evidence, the allegations have circulated widely on Facebook, which is extremely popular in the Philippines, gaining hundreds of thousands of interactions.


Misinformation seeking to discredit Robredo as stupid, unfriendly or even a communist has surged during the election season.


Communist rebels have waged a decades-long insurgency in the country.


Red-tagging — accusing someone of being a communist sympathiser — has intensified under President Rodrigo Duterte and has resulted in the deaths of many activists, journalists and lawyers.


Robredo hit back on Friday, accusing Marcos Jr of being a “liar”.


“I pity the Filipinos who were deceived by him,” she told reporters in the central city of Sorsogon.


The allegations against Robredo carry echoes of the elder Ferdinand Marcos’s tactics of discrediting enemies, justifying his dictatorial rule and retaining US Cold War support by playing up the spectre of a looming Red Peril that was hell-bent on taking over the country.


For much of the campaign, Marcos Jr has eschewed detailed policy pronouncements, instead framing himself as uniquely qualified to “unify” the nation.


He also portrayed his father’s rule — which saw widespread human rights abuses, rampant corruption, international opprobrium and the cratering of the Philippine economy — as a gilded age.


Behind the scenes, he has built a potent coalition of the country’s ruling families who can deliver blocks of votes on mass.


Marcos’ running mate is Sarah Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing president, who has strong domestic support for his unvarnished political style and a bloody drug war that rights groups estimate has killed tens of thousands in extrajudicial executions.


The duo’s campaign on Friday promised to reopen the economy after Covid-19 lockdowns, invest in infrastructure and continue Rodrigo Duterte’s “campaign against illegal drugs and criminality” which is subject to an investigation by the International Criminal Court.


But the prospect of a Marcos presidency has alarmed rights groups and Catholic church leaders, who doubt his commitment to democracy and fear his administration will weaken checks and balances on governance and worsen corruption.


Saturday will see both sides hold enormous rallies in Manila for the last day of campaigning — with hundreds of thousands projected to gather just a few kilometres (miles) apart to cheer their political idols and enjoy a barrage of Pinoy pop.


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John Oliver's take on it... It sort of explains how the fuck are they stupid enough to vote for Marcos.

And they actually elected the c u n t.

The video above can be the only explanation as to how they can be so terminally stupid.

Pariah to president: Marcos Jr returns family to Philippines supremacy

Let's just hope he learned not to follow in the sins of his father. Though Leni I hear wasn't the best choice either. This reminds me of Clinton v Trump. A lot of people felt like we were caught between a rock and a hard place. I heard this election was so controversial that there were more shootings over differences of opinion than any other election.

Originally Posted by TTraveler

Let's just hope he learned not to follow in the sins of his father.

The sins of his father? He's convinced them that his father's reign was the golden era! He'll plunder what little scraps are left, have the charges his family still face of robbing the nation dismissed, and the blind hope of everyday Filipinos thinking this guy will be any different to the rest of the absolute fucking imbeciles/thieves they've elected will evaporate in about 6 months. Rinse and repeat.

Originally Posted by Headworx

He's convinced them that his father's reign was the golden era!

Was the Post having a subtle dig posting this article I wonder?

His campaign was bolstered by teaming up with vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte and the backing of other elite families who wield enormous influence in the feudal and corrupt democracy.

Originally Posted by Headworx

the blind hope of everyday Filipinos thinking this guy will be any different to the rest of the absolute fucking imbeciles/thieves they've elected will evaporate in about 6 months. Rinse and repeat.

The love and admiration so many Filipinos feel for the Marcos kleptocrats or even The Duterte mob is bewildering and it crosses all sections of society.

They deserve the government they get and will forever be the poorest of the poor

Originally Posted by panama hat

The love and admiration so many Filipinos feel for the Marcos kleptocrats or even The Duterte mob is bewildering and it crosses all sections of society.

They deserve the government they get and will forever be the poorest of the poor

It just goes to show how powerful social media is.

And the Phils are apparently a nation glued to it more than most.

Yes, Marcos Jr is leading the race. I didn't vote for him but I am resigned to have 6 years of Marcos rule, which will be similar to the Duterte admin (since Sara Duterte will most likely be VP).

The thing is, the Duterte supporters (and consequently Marcos camp too) are die hard fanatics. There were many opposition candidates, like Leni Robredo, Manny Pacquiao, Ping Lacson, Isko Moreno. The Marcos/ Duterte camp is solid, while the opposition votes were divided among the other candidates.

In a survey released ~1 week before the elections, Marcos garnered 50+% of the survey votes. Robredo had 23%, others had single digits.

PH allows multi party system, so it's not like the US which is Repubs vs Dems. But yeah, the Trump - Clinton analogy is a good one.

I have some FB friends (acquaintances in real life) who I've "unfollowed" since pre midterm election in 2019 because they were die-hard Duterte supporters and couldn't be dissuaded. I just got irritated when I saw their posts so I unfollowed them. They're still in my contacts (and can send me messages) but I won't see their posts. They weren't poor & illiterate - they were college graduates. (sigh)

^yes, wheels and turns. After we ousted the Marcos family in 1986, they will be in Malacanang Palace again after 36 years. I expect a lot of revisionism in the history books for the next few years.

Those FB "friends" - I met them via hiking. They're yuppies working in Manila but they're originally from Mindanao. The Duterte camp is strong in Visayas & Mindanao. Those acquaintances are good people - fun to be around and not "maarte" (picky / hi-so). However, when they make political posts, it irritates me. So I've unfollowed them. (I've heard of similar "unfriending" events in the US for Trump/ anti Trump supporters.)

Most of my colleagues & close friends are anti-Duterte and anti-Marcos. We were dismayed by the results of the 2019 Senatorial elections - most of those who won were admin bets.

Actually, in 2019 a colleague said that in a survey among the youth, Marcos Jr was their primary bet. These Gen Z and millenials are very active on social media and PH has a mostly young population. I guess that my colleagues are disappointed again - but what can we do? Sigh...

Originally Posted by katie23

I expect a lot of revisionism in the history books for the next few years.

I expect the end of effort to recover Marcos assets as well.

I've got some Filipina friends back in the sandpit who have filled their facetubegrams with joyous posts about how happy they are Marcos is their president.

It's so fucking sad that they don't know who they've elected.

Originally Posted by katie23

They weren't poor & illiterate - they were college graduates. (sigh)

Originally Posted by panama hat

it crosses all sections of society.

Yup, I see it here in NZ as well.

And it’s the same in the UK, of course.

Though for every college graduate there are ten who left school with nothing.