Blaming the game, not the player; the broken democratic election system in the Philippines

Preface

During the 2022 Philippine presidential election, probably the biggest comeback on top of the political pedestal was Marcos Jr. winning the presidential race, son of a deposed former dictator-president Marcos Sr., against a self-portrayed progressive candidate, former Vice-President Robredo, and a few other traditional political aspirants. The outcome of this election was not really surprising given the trend of previous presidential elections, but the real difference this time was the very vocal dismay of people who supported Robredo over to others who chose the other candidates. Many of them claimed that others made a bad choice, sometimes even comparing it to committing a carnal sin, and concluded that didn't give a care to improving the state of the country.

It is unfortunate that the very system of giving citizens the choice to elect all their leaders became a reason why the Philippines has languished to being the bottom feeder in the region in terms of overall progress. The country is hugely overtaken by their ASEAN neighbors in economic growth who were initially criticized during their formative years for not being "democratic" enough to their citizens. Long ago our country boasted being the first South-East Asian nation to restore and operate a democratic system with the citizens retaining the power to directly vote their leaders. But looking at those other countries under a hybrid parliament or even communist-led party looks to be more prosperous, with their own domestic problems seem to be not a major impediment for overall progress.

With the 2025 mid-term elections fast approaching and campaign sorties already in full-swing, candidates once again loitter on mainstream media and their faces plastered on the streets. The tone and mood looks to give yet again another upsetting outcome of traditional politicians continuing to win their retained or previously held positions. 

This write-up will not judge or pick which government system turned out to be better, but just to ponder why the current Philippine democratic election system is broken. Many would probably criticize this as a delusional work of fiction what-ifs and possibly speculate it was just made with AI. At the time of this writing even the AI might probably gain existential realization if it did consume this information. I just hope the Filipino people would also be the same.

The Power of a (Bad) Choice

When Marcos Sr. and his family was ferried into the US territory with the assistance of the US gov't., the EDSA People Power revolution was considered a success in dismantling martial law and marked the end of his dictatorial rule in the Philippines. The first outcry of those who fought against the regime was to give justice to those who were oppressed during the last administration, and of course the restoration of the power to vote by the citizens. The latter is of course was non-contested and enshrined in the 1987 constitution, but the former is a bit of a gray-area which led to some issues in the years that follow.

To this day, the Filipino people enjoys the very idea and actively participates to vote for the people they believe will become a good leader. During every major election period where the people are focused on choosing the president & vice-president, which by-the-way can be selected separately (unlike in the US elections that they are voted for as a tandem), the senatorial positions are oftentimes not taken seriously because they are 12 slots at a given election period. The voters can just pick a few notable names for senators who looks "nice" or appeals to their gut-feel, and if there is still a few more blank slots to complete their 12-picks they just select whoever else shows up in the ballot without much thought. That same line of thinking remains the same when people chooses their local officials; choosing the governor or mayor is a big deal while the congressional seat, provincial board and councilors are just mere formalities to filling-up the rest of the voter's sheet. 

What most Filipino people do not realize is that the senatorial and congressional positions are actually very important as their main functions can be simplified into the following:

1. legislation of laws; be it making new laws or amending existing ones to maintain their relevance.
2. crafting the budget and expenditure of the government which hugely affects the quality of service and functions of the government to the people. 
3. the power of oversight; to question and influence how various government agencies operate
4. approval of personnel to be appointed in key government agencies and departments.

It would seem odd that the voters are not aware of the importance and functions of such elected government positions. Such kind of information can easily be dessiminated through various forms in these modern times via traditional media and access to internet-based social platforms. Unfortunately this kind of knowledge was slowly erroded over time due to varous socio-economic factors that revolve around an ordinary Filipino citizen.

Cementing the political legacy

In the past 18 (or 19) sessions of Congress, the way how the Philippine government operates and matters related to the electoral process was slowly realigned to favor by those who have been in-power. 

• Crafting "spiked" laws and using their influence to legitimately realign budgets for government agencies critical to social services like healthcare, pension, and education.
• Creation of additional congressional and local districts typically by subdividing existing ones, in turn creates more government elected positions.
• Using their "oversight" to influence and assign desired people in various agencies that align according to their interest and implement complimenting government projects.
• Amending the party-list system by increasing the number of seats available in Congress and extending the perks of budget allotment akin to a congressional district to those winning party-list groups.

In due time, the politicians have planted enough influence within the rank-and-file of civil servants in both local and national government institutions that could last as long as their next-of-kin will continue their legacy. They can basically utilize government assets and funds through loopholes from enacted laws they passed in order to paint a pretty picture of themselves doing a good job; providing scholarships to the children of their constituents, healthcare assistance, burial assistance, funding a grand fiesta every year, building of key infrastructure in their locality, all under the guise of their goodness and hard-work.

Meanwhile, the full-effect of the amended party-list system for Congress was bared upon beginning in the 2016 elections. The "marginalized" sectors suddenly increased in type and scope allowed. This made the number of party-lists competing in every forthcoming elections either came close or even exceeded the number of geographically defined congressional seats. It made seasoned politicians to have more than one way (or seat) especially if their district is significantly large and can muster the number equivalent to 3% of the total number of voters in the entire Philippines.

Their established ecosystem is so robust that it doesn't even matter whoever is the sitting president even if they are not in the same political party. As long as they sing their praises and declare their momentary fiety to the ruling administration, they can go about doing their monkey business with just some minor adjustment to suit the tone of the administration's platform/agenda.

It can be argued that most of what was said are heresay and purely fictional. But if so, why is it that the same surnames of politically-affluent families oftentimes appear and are appointed in key executive government positions in the government? Quite rare is the case that a person was appointed purely by merit of their credentials or years of service in that affiliated agency. If by chance they were, it would only be for a few weeks operating in an "acting officer-in-charge" that has limited authority or decision-making capacity until a more favored person is permanently appointed by the ruling administration and conferred by Congress.  

A debt to be paid

One can say that the government can properly function and be fixed by citizens empowered with enough information and enlightenment to select the right candidates come by election period. That is ultimately the right approach and scenario for a healty democratic electoral system to function. But there is one undeniable trait exists within the general populace of the Filipinos that hampers such kind of condition, and that is their "utang na loob" or quoted in Wikipedia "a debt of one's inner self".

 

To put this trait into more context and action, we try to look at the situation from the perspective of an ordinary Filipino family categorized as a low-income family. For context, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority and Department of Social Welface and Development, a low-income family has at least one person who is able to work that enables them to earn the defined minimum daily/monthly wage, who is able to rent and live in a settlement, the family comprising of 4 members can eat 3 square meals a day, and the children all undertaking education. These families are not considered poor by the government because of the stipulation being able to earn that minimum wage. In fact the low-income family is supposedly a sub-category of the middle class but due to their majority count of at least 58% of the population from the census they separated its representation from the rest of the middle class. That minimum wage, also perceived as the "living wages", is based on what our government decided to enact according to the laws of the land (c/o the politicians). 

 

The wage rates is the initial gatekeeper for the Filipino worker on how "well" he/she can live and support the family. Because of that meager salary only enables them to barely live for the moment, these low-income families are not able to save money for other needs or afford any form of luxury to improve quality of life. When emergencies arise like sickness or death, they seldom cannot afford to get through it on their own and resort to sought help from relatives but may also be living in the same empoverished situation. Should they approach established government agencies in both local or national level, they are oftentimes unable to render appropriate help due to "limitations" of their budget and mandate. In this unfortunate situation where the politicians intervenes in their lives, provided they are in the same voting precinct, to offer the appropriate assistance. Ironically, they are the same politicians who rendered the social services of the government to be ineffective so that their own-initiated and branded financial and social assistance will be consumed by their constituents. 

 

The children of these families, even at an early age, are also exposed to the indebtness to those politicians. Their school facilities are named after the deceased relative of those politicians, with almost every school activity there are streamers with their names printed bigger than the activity itself. The appearance of the sitting politician to make a short speech during graduation rites is a regular part of the program. The provided "free" school supplies are oftentimes branded with the initials or recognizable logo of the politician. Scholarships are requested and ultimately given through a recommendation letter from the office of the sitting politician to the respective state-operated academic institution.

 

In almost every stage and important life event the ordinary Filipino family, they are touched by at least one politician. They are mentally conditioned that the easiest way to repay those politicians who helped them during their times of need or crisis is to vote for them or their next-of-kin. By doing so, they believe it ensures the continuity of the assistance they or their fellow constituents have benefitted. Even merely entertaining the idea of choosing an alternative candidate can be considered heresy by the constituents, because as the old saying goes "why bite the hand that feeds them". 

It takes two to tango

Referring again to the 2022 presidential elections, many Filipinos rallied behind Leni Robredo with the belief that by electing the right person at the highest government position in the land it would drastically change the course of the country into a better situation. Added the fact that she declared to run as an Independent, unaffiliated with any political party organization, portrayed the position that she will be running the government in a wholistic bi-partisan approach. Despite being part of the endorsed ticket, or oftentimes referred to as an adopted candidate, by the Liberal Party she retained that facade that she would not be indebted to that party's political agenda or inclinations. 

The idea of having one very-good president will be the key to solve the problems of the Philippines is quite a fairy-tale. In order for any policies or initiatives set by the president to be realized, there must be multi-partisan support all throughout their administrative tenure. If even one of those groups or party-members feel that their agenda do not alight with those policies they would automatically oppose and derail them through various options at their disposal. A sitting president without a strangle-hold of Congress and key local government units would just be withering their days as the ruling administration, unable to enact any changes they championed in the first place.

Opposing legislators and even the losing candidates have left in-place enough clout within various government sector to retain their influence and power that could be used as an obstacle to whoever sits as president. Whatever happens all their self-serving initiatives would just continue and act as if it was business-as-usual because the mechanisms for it remain intact even if they are out of any government position.

On the other hand, those who supported the winning president would probably leap for joy as they can ride the administration-bandwagon to progress their own political agenda. Revisiting the scenario that if Leni won, she would have needed to take-in people that she feels trustworthy within her known circle. Those people hidden from the public eye is what many Filipinos failed to consider when voting for a candidate because all of them have their own political agendas that can easily mis-align their backed candidate's initiatives. At the end of the day, anyone who's in politics in any level or capacity always have their own political agenda and interest to fuel oftentimes detrimental to the people they owe (their positions) to.

That fairy-tale belief of others about Leni Robredo being the key to progressive change was extinguished when she was not granted that privilege to serve as her opposing candidate got a commanding majority of the votes. Marcos can be considered the "people's choice" as he got more than 50% of the total votes for president, quite a sizable show of strength all thanks to dancing in the same tempo with other like-minded political personalities even if it only lasted for a few months.

Strength in "numbers"

A candidate shall be considered the victor in an election when they secure majority of the votes compared to the opposing candidates. To put it simply, the voters can be considered just digits in a numbers game. It would be an easy situation if it was only 2 or 3 candidates for the voters to chose as it can be simply choosing to pick a left-conservative-right leaning candidate. But in many instances in every election in the Philippines, the lines of who is left-conservative-right is a blur as there can be 5 or more viying for one position. 

In some electoral positions, there can be 3 left-leaning candidates jocking for the same position and they end-up losing to the single right-wing candidate. This could have easily been resolved if the leftist political party policed and agreed to put only one candidate to endorse/support. But even the political party system here in the Philippines is quite a handful, wherein it is like a Jollibee branch continuously sprouting everywhere and just gives the same consistent flavor wherever you go. The customers are spread amongst the different branches but if tallied they simply prefer the same thing without much afterthought.

In the case of the 2022 presidential elections, Marcos Jr. got around 58% of the total votes with the remainder being divided amongst the opposing candidates. One might consider that their side of the political spectrum who opted to bond together became the main reason why he and his running-mate won, thus the "Team Unity". What others did not realize that Marcos Jr. has "practiced" this campaign in a previous election when he ran for VP in the 2016 elections. After securing around 34% votes in the national level but still lost to Robredo who got 38%, they realized that Marcos Jr. has a very solid voter baseline on his own and just needed to attract a few more to make-up the numbers to win. This learning was the very reason that in the days leading up to the 2022 presidential election they were keen on securing an alliance with political clans who can produce that added numbers, effectively making a super-majority. It was also this realization that during the course of the 2022 campaign season the opposing candidates wanted to have a dialogue for all of them to rally behind a single candidate just to have a fighting chance against Marcos. But even at the earliest stage it was doomed to fail as all of their ego and political aspirations are too big for anyone to yield.

For the case of other political election battleground positions, it is basically the same situation but opposite approach. If a candidate know he can only muster 30% votes with his leading opposition having a larger vote baseline, instead of looking for an alliance with other parties they just convince them to run in the same position. By introducing added competition, the 30% votes can end up being the winning number because the remaining votes were dilluted to opposing candidates so much that nobody else can secure even one-fourth the possible total. 

Each and every candidate throughout their political lifecyle is a race to up'ed their supporters through various initiatives in other to advance their progression in the political arena. Those number of votes they can secure can either translate into winning an elected position, or they can be used as leverage when aligning with other political clans for a mutually beneficial political cause. Whichever happens, the citizens are just numbers in the eyes of the politician playing in a big game.

Is the Game broken?

With all of the scenarios and external factors presented, one may question whether there is still any difference for their vote to even matter in every election. That dilemma itself is the ideal outcome that every politician wants to happen; to remove any opposing votes against them out of circulation in every election. By putting all of that legal impediments or limitations in the electoral process, those ruling politicians effectively rigged the game secure their competitive advantage. Despite all of that assurances, they still need to continue giving the Filipino masses a reason to believe their votes matter because it is still those votes that they need in order to legally win in the electoral process.

It is probably hard for a sound-minded voter to see any glimmer of progress when they peer through the list of running candidates whose smug and de-aged faces they've seen more than 5 times before going to the voting precinct. For the meantime, one needs to participate in the game with the objective of not necessarily expecting to win, but to ensure that the opportunity to participate in the next one is retained. It is only through hope and time when we see good people decide to put their names in the candidate sheet and be offered as gladiators in the brutal political arena can each individual vote matter.

In due time and without opposition, these ruling traditional politicians could find a way to circumvent the entire need to hold an election. Through amending a few more laws or even that portion of the constitution about the voting rights, the game will no longer be broken but simply be game over.