Since gaining so-called independence in 1946, the Philippines has seen numerous elections. Yet, these ‘democratic’ exercises have failed to alleviate the people’s lives and have not brought genuine social change. Like all the previous bourgeois elections in the past, the upcoming Philippine mid-term elections in May 2025 is a reactionary and hollow political exercise. It aims to provide a semblance of democracy and false hope to the masses by allowing them to supposedly “choose” among a set of pre-selected representatives of the ruling class.
History has shown us that reactionary elections in the Philippines are dominated by personalities and representatives from political dynasties and local tyrants. At every level of the civilian bureaucracy, the ruling dynasties nurture their representatives to maintain their grip on power and further their economic interests.
These elections have repeatedly failed to address the chronic socioeconomic and political crises plaguing the country and the people. Instead, they have perpetuated a reactionary and rotten ruling system dominated by elite interests, as exemplified by the Marcos dictatorship, a series of pseudo-democratic regimes that followed, the tyrannical rule of Duterte, and the current criminal Marcos Jr. administration. With tacit US imperialist backing, they manipulate the results of the reactionary elections by funneling huge financing and other resources from public funds, using their wide network of influence and connections, and deploying their propaganda machinery and private armies to coerce the masses and bring about results that favor their interests.
On the other hand, this cycle of electoral fraud and the repeated failure of the ruling system to address the most pressing issues of the masses is increasingly becoming apparent. Despite the lofty rhetoric of Marcos Jr. to bring down the price of rice to Php20 per kilo, Filipinos continue to live in extreme poverty unable to afford even their basic needs. Low wages, scarce employment opportunities, poor social services, and widespread landlessness remain. The exodus of thousands of Filipinos yearly seeking better employment abroad signifies the lack of opportunities back home. The country’s external debt rose from just over $2 billion in 1970 to over $87 billion, affirming its dependence on foreign loans to sustain the backward import-dependent and export-oriented economy.
By all indications, the reactionary ruling class rigs every election to preserve its power. It controls the reactionary armed forces, the Commission on Elections (Comelec), and the private company in charge of the electronic vote count. In the 2022 elections, for example, IT communications experts monitoring how election results are transmitted just a few minutes after the election closed spotted a transmission of millions of votes for a single candidate coming from a local IP address and not through the designated telcos. A local IP address indicates that the transmitter is in the same network, a clear indication of electronic cheating.
In a semicolonial and semifeudal society, it is impossible for a truly democratic and fair elections to happen. No reactionary election in the history of Philippine society has ever been democratic and fair contrary to the narrative of “free and fair elections” perpetuated by the ruling classes and their representatives in the reactionary state. They immediately and systematically exclude electoral candidates who are genuine representatives of the workers and peasants; those who do not have the resources to compete with massively funded campaigns of the elite class enriched by their “guns, goons and gold.” Through the ruling class control of the Comelec, they make it difficult for progressive partylists to participate while partylists sponsored by political dynasties are allowed free rein.
During reactionary elections, the local ruling class refines its fraudulent machinery, with the Comelec playing a key role. This manipulation ensures the dominance of the ruling political party, minimizes the influence of political opposition candidates, and marginalizes or renders insignificant the voices of progressive candidates. The introduction of computerized and automated vote counting has further intensified, expanded, and worsened these fraudulent practices. This system lacks the essential principles of checks and balances, leaving no transparent mechanisms to trace or verify manipulated votes. As a result, it becomes nearly impossible to detect and prove the occurrence of electoral fraud, leaving a trail devoid of evidence.
The Party, the people’s army, and the underground organizations allied with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) do not participate in reactionary elections. This is not merely because the ruling state has outlawed the Party and its revolutionary organizations, but primarily because revolution is the only solution to the fundamental problems of Philippine society.
The repeated failure of elections to bring about a radical change in the Philippines highlights the need for a fundamental overhaul of the rotting socioeconomic and political system. Radical change requires addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality, including land reform and national industrialization. It also necessitates dismantling the structures of elite domination and ensuring that political power is genuinely representative of and accountable to the people. Without these changes, elections will remain useless, offering the illusion of democracy while perpetuating the same oppressive and reactionary rule.
