Post-Election Philippines
Post-Election Philippines | Photo Credit: www.asiafoundation.org
The May 2010 national election is finally over and, to the everyone’s relief, none of the doomsayers’ predictions and conspiracy theories seem to have materialized. Albeit it may be too early to rule these out as some parties, particularly the losing candidates, are quick to point an accusing finger to the COMELEC and PGMA’s most distrusted administration for such plots and schemes.
In general, the country’s focus has already shifted from the anxieties of pre-election, to “back to normal,” even as the two top elected officials in the land are yet to be officially proclaimed.
Post-election controversies are not unlike their pre-election counterparts. The most raging scandal before and after the election was and is the question on whether PGMA will appoint a new SC chief justice. That was promptly answered with the appointment of Justice Corona just a few days after the polls. The most likely president-elect was quickly pulled into the controversy with an off-tangent remark to the effect that he would rather take his oath from a Barangay Captain than from PGMA’s newly appointed SC Chief.
The Filipino people now has to deal with the tons of garbage which has become a permanent aftermath of Philippine elections. In fairness though, last month’s election saw a lot less campaign posters than in elections past. This is partly due to the better political will to enforce laws by the concerned agencies (i.e. COMELEC, MMDA, PNP, etc.) and to a greater extent, the emergence of new campaign media, particularly the Internet.
