It was clear even just midway through the term of former President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III that the Yellow narrative of the Liberal Party and the broader community of partisans and activists loyal to the Aquino-Cojuangco clan has gone way past its Use-by Date. As a result, the landslide vote in favour of then presidential candidate Rordrigo Duterte in 2016 was seen by many observers as a protest vote against the Yellowtard candidates of the time.
Unfortunately, in the campaign lead-up to this year’s 2019 elections, the Opposition continued to campaign like Yellowtards. Despite attempts to re-brand by changing their partisan colours, ditching the idiotic “Laban” hand gesture, and distancing themselves from as many Yellowtard icons as they could think of, the much-vaunted Otso Diretso coalition continued to walk like Yellowtards and quack like Yellowtards.
They continued to quack about ‘press freedom’ and ‘human rights’, how these were supposedly ‘dying’ or ‘under assault’, and how, with it, democracy was ‘in decline’. Worse, they continued to waddle along screeching negative messages against the popular incumbent and refusing to engage with a multitude of sober voices challenging their dogma.
The results, as such, aren’t surprising. Filipinos overwhelmingly voted in protest against the dishonesty inherent in the Yellow brand a second time in a row. Perhaps the candidates, as many mainstream media columnists insist, were qualified and decent enough to deserve to be senators. Unfortunately for them, their own followers did them in. They did themselves no favours by settling into the comfortable embrace of Yellowtardom.
Hopefully the Opposition will have learnt from this year’s catastrophic loss at the polls and campaign more intelligently next time.