Elections were held in the Philippines on May 9. The elections on that day were large scale, with elections not only for president, but also for provincial governors and mayors.
Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. aka BBM was elected as the new president and Sara Duterte, daughter of current president Duterte, was elected as vice president.
Bongbong Marcos is the son of Fernando Marcos, who was elected president in 1965 and was later dubbed a dictator after imposing martial law and was forced to flee the country in the 1986 Edsa Revolution.
I remember that this Edsa revolution was widely reported in Japan on a daily basis.
Even though fathers and sons are different personalities, one cannot help but feel the changing times in the results of this election.
In the last presidential election, she had run as a vice presidential candidate, but the result was that she was defeated by a female candidate, Renee Robredo. This time she also ran for president, but received less than half of the number of votes cast for Bombon Marcos.
Bonbon Marcos was humiliated.
Sara Duterte, who won the vice presidential race, was overwhelmingly popular, receiving three times as many votes as the second-place candidate.
This one may have had some parental support.
Unlike in Japan, Philippine elections are famous for being very exciting.
In the past, there have been cases where supporters who were intoxicated got into a dispute with supporters of the opposing camp, resulting in a murder. That is why it is forbidden to sell alcohol or serve alcohol in restaurants on the day of the election.
Another thing is that elections are always accompanied by money, and even today, it is said that buying votes is still done secretly.
Well, I can't say anything great about it since Japan did the same thing for a while after the war.
In the Philippines, people are said to be talking about how much money that candidate gave them and how stingy the other candidate was, so regardless of whether it was right or wrong, they were open about it.
What is different from Japan is that in the Philippines, you need to register as an elector in order to vote.
In Japan, there is no need to register as an elector because the municipal election commission maintains the electoral rolls based on the Basic Resident Registration Book, and when an election approaches, voters are sent numbered tickets to enter the polling place.
This admission ticket is checked by a witness at the polling place, and in exchange, the voter receives a ballot to cast his/her vote. Once a voter has voted, his or her data is kept by the polling place, so it is not possible to vote twice.
When the Philippines votes, they ink the nails of their hands so that they cannot vote twice.
If you look at your fingers, you can tell at a glance whether you have voted or not.
At dinner, "If you were in the Philippines, which candidate would you have voted for?" I asked my wife.
She thought for a moment and answered, "Manny Pacquiao.
Pretty good choice, I thought.
*In Japanese, the word "bong bong" refers to a son who has been spoiled by rich parents.
