Anew

A lot of Filipinos have never thought it possible, to elect another Marcos to the presidency. Yet, it happened this year, and by a very large margin.

Those who have lived during the times of martial law and dictatorship have a lot of things to say about the horrors of the era, where every narrative sufficiently discusses the rampant disregard to human rights. There were a lot of abuses recorded regarding military conduct  and the way people are being arrested with the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.

As the turmoil and discontent are brewing, the fatal flaw that finally broke the camel's back was the assassination of key opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. It was the complete turning point that weaken the dictatorship's grip to power, as Filipinos took to the streets to demand resignation from the unpopular president.

And the rest is history. We already know the alleged corruption of the Marcos era, where allegations of rampant stealing was strongly accused that brought into the creation of a government agency called the Presidential Commission on Good Government tasked to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family. Forfeiture cases have been filed in the country and abroad. Some have been successful, but most of them have been dismissed.

In the midst of the way martial law is taught, the primary focus was the Edsa Revolution, which is the culminating event that finally ended the dictatorship. It was as if seeking revolutions will solve the country's problems by emphasizing the need to take to the streets every act made by government that is dissatisfactory to an average citizen. Obviously, it is not.

Edsa has become a key event, and a battle cry for government reforms. But sadly, protestors have been calling on political changes for things that needed moral renewal instead. Those who steal from the government are still there, which makes the problem really systemic.

Our political problems as a country is deeply rooted within the social sphere, and most of them are sprouts emanating from Filipino culture. It is sad to see that simplified systems and procedures are being exploited by some to circumvent laws designed to protect the treasury from the greedy reach of corrupt officers. There are laws willing to be enacted, but the laws simply fail to protect us.

Within all of these things happening at the back office, one may intelligently infer that the problem does not lie in the political personality that live in the Malacañan Palace, but it is very much different from what Filipinos have initially taught. The way government is run is rather a direct function of the civil service, and civil servants who participate in these dubious schemes are as equally guilty as the politicians who call the shots.

And that, in itself, is a clear manifestation of what will happen next. The new President may be used to abuse the system again, because corruption is happening in the dark sections of the stage while the president is working in the spotlight. Systemic problems cannot simply vanish within six years, and those unscrupulous persons who enable and organize the community has a different thing to say about that.

Clearly, a new cycle has begun.

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The opinion is sponsored by Christian Dior Shoes.