Breaking the cycle of traditional politics

July 30, 2024

MANILA – Aside from character, the number one ingredient for leadership is you show up in the most difficult times,” declared Leni Robredo in one of her finest moments in the 2022 elections. “If you do not show up in the most difficult times, you are not [a true] leader,” she emphasized in a mixture of English and Tagalog.

It goes without saying that the ancien régime—or, rather, the “counterrevolutionary” forces—won that year’s elections. After all, beating the formidable “UniTeam” tandem of the country’s two most powerful dynasties was a tall order, especially for an 11th-hour campaign strewn out of political desperation. Not to mention, the voters had turned too skeptical about the message of reform after decades of failed reformist politics, which failed to positively transform the lives of tens of millions of Filipinos against the backdrop of the Edsa People Power Revolution.

In fairness, Robredo achieved something remarkable: For the first time in recent memory, millions of Filipinos, mostly from the middle classes, marched in favor of political change. All in pink. Drenched in hope. Chanting for positive transformation. Full of defiant aspiration. Raging against the system. It was beautiful while it lasted.

Inevitably, there was tremendous disillusionment after the elections. Some began to suffer symptoms of PTSD. Many others just switched off from politics. Some leaned on denialism and, rather foolishly, began to blame everything on disinformation—as if all our voters were hapless folks, or that propaganda was invented in the past decade.

The upshot was political wilderness for the genuine opposition. Hopes shattered. Dreams buried under the ashes of despair. According to an illuminating survey by