7 Things I Learned from Halalan 2016

For my international readers, halalan means election.

Facebook has said it. We were the most active and socially involved country in terms of our election. We were too involved if I may say so. Everyone became a political analyst and campaign manager overnight for different candidates.

It seems like a good thing no? Unfortunately, it wasn't for a lot.

People started bashing other candidates and while this is a little normal, it went to the point that family and friends were fighting each other and even unfollowing and unfriending one another which is tantamount to a severance of the actual relationship in real life. This was heartbreaking because it was so unnecessary. People broke off relationships because of a difference in opinion and points of view.

Different strokes for different folks remember? 

To say that people went ballistic would be an understatement. Luckily, my friends and I never had this happen to us and I think it's because we all respected one another. My takeaway from this whole circus are the following:

1. If your friend unfriended you, perhaps you weren't really the friends you thought you were. It hurts but at least you now know that a simple difference in opinion was enough for you guys to be F.O. (friendship over.)

2. Take note of those who went crazy with their support for their candidates. Take note of those who bashed others just to make a point. Take note of those who called you names and what not. When the zombie apocalypse happens in our lifetime, STAY AWAY from these people. If they can seek blood when they really have nothing to gain, what more can they do when it's their survival at stake. They will not help you. They will kill you to give themselves a better chance to survive. RUN AWAY from them. Seriously.

3. We are ready for change. We are clamoring for it. At the end of the day, Duterte gave us hope for a brighter Philippines. This is what essentially won him the race.

4. When I met Duterte in person, I realized ... he's not that tall. He really is the typical Pinoy.

5. Our local media are biased. A lot of them are no longer professional and they do not respect their jobs. They just see it as a job and not an honor. I say this after several encounters where I saw firsthand and heard known journalists make snide remarks and comments as well as have a ready made article even before a press con started. It was very appalling.

6. We still have a lot of uneducated voters which is very sad. They voted famous personalities without checking if these personalities deserved to be voted. I wish that this would be addressed in the future. No more empty promises please.

7. People will always reveal their true colors when you give them a mask. In this case, the mask was the social media platforms people engaged on. A lot of them waged war, called names, threatened even and these are all disgusting things. Now that the storm is over, they are back to wearing their "decent" mask. However, for me, I now have a clearer view of people and their bias. I hope everyone else has them too. No amount of "We all went crazy with the election but now let us put to rest blah blah blah blah blah." If you called me a retard or an insipid fool for having a different candidate that I supported, you don't have a space in my world. No to negativity.

Respect begets respect. 

We may not all like the same thing or support the same persons but we all need to respect one another. The only ones who do not deserve respect are drug lords, drug addicts, rapists, pedophiles, human traffickers and trolls.