Why has Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos
become so popular with Filipino voters? There are plenty of reasons why
but the number one reason is because of his Number One critic, current
President Benigno Simeon Aquino.
A lot of voters have become disillusioned by BS Aquino’s performance
over the six years he’s held office. They realize that he is quite an
unpleasant man who is only good at blaming other people for his own
failures. His character is such a turn-off. It doesn’t help that he
doesn’t have a face that could launch a thousand ships. It is a
cringe-worthy experience watching the President speak in public.
It’s
hard to tell if it is because of the shape of his mouth, which looks
like it is always upside down or because his mouth is always spewing
negative things about other people. Either way, BS Aquino is just so
uninspiring. He has never been one to inspire unity in Philippine
society anyway. In fact, his speeches are quite often about how “evil”
his rivals are compared to him. People have noticed how hypocritical he
is by casting himself as pious while throwing negative propaganda
against his political enemies. A truly pious person will never speak
ill of others.
Because Marcos, Jr is a threat to the so-called Aquino “legacy”, BS
Aquino has shifted to full gear in trying to knock the senator’s
popularity down. BS Aquino, the son of the late “democracy icon” and
former President Cory Aquino would be a laughing stock indeed, when the
Marcoses return to Malacanang.
Ironically, the more BS Aquino talks negatively about the Marcoses,
the more people give Marcos Jr a second look. It appears that BS Aquino
and his supporters do not understand the concept behind public
relations. They inadvertently help give Marcos Jr free publicity at the
height of campaign season for the Presidential Elections. As they say,
all publicity is good publicity.
This brings us to another reason why Marcos Jr has become popular
with voters. Every time BS Aquino mentions the name Marcos, the voters
unconsciously give the senator’s performance as a public servant a
second look and they begin to see him as his own man, separately from
his father.
The problem with BS Aquino and his supporters is that, it has become
obvious that the only things they can use against Marcos Jr are the
atrocities allegedly committed by his father’s government during the
Martial Law years and nothing about his performance as a senator. They
keep insisting that Marcos Jr has not apologized for them. But Martial
Law was declared when he was only 12 years old. How can they blame the
atrocities committed by members of the Philippine military and police on
someone who was still a teenager when they occurred? Some people are
suffering from a bad case of tunnel vision that they can’t think
straight anymore. On one occasion, BS Aquino criticized Marcos Jr for
dyeing his gray hair black. Only a bald man would notice another man’s
hairdo, I suppose.
BS
Aquino’s hypocrisy was made more evident when he hosted the Japanese
Emperor and Empress recently. During World War II, the Japanese Imperial
Army committed worse atrocities against the Filipino people and yet BS
Aquino recently welcomed the Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in the
country. While BS Aquino sees the importance of making peace with one of
the country’s previous oppressors, he doesn’t see the importance of
making peace with the Marcoses. He talks about them as if they did
nothing good for the country. This despite the fact that a lot of the
infrastructure built during the Marcos years like the Philippine
International Convention Center, the North and South Luzon tollways, the
Philippine Heart Center, and the San Juanico bridge among others are
still being utilized by Filipinos today. We also need not mention some
of the policies initiated by Marcos Sr like sending overseas contract
workers abroad to help the economy still benefit even the BS Aquino
administration today.
Yes, those are some of the things that give voters something to think
about. Unfortunately for BS Aquino, the more he highlights how bad the
Marcoses are, the more he highlights that he is worse than his enemies.
This brings us to yet another reason why Marcos Jr is becoming
popular. Despite the negative propaganda thrown at him, Marcos Jr still
manages to smile and take things with a grain of salt. The voters notice
this and find him a refreshing alternative to the hostile demeanor BS
Aquino quite often projects.
Indeed, what the Philippines needs is a leader who will promote unity
and harmony among Filipinos and not someone who promotes discord and
division like BS Aquino. The voters have had enough of him and his
despicable personality.
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