By French Vivienne T. Templonuevo
Photo by Sage Lingatong | The Red Chronicles
Perhaps, one of the greatest infamies of the country’s political history is the election turnout during the 2022 National Elections. Never-before-seen dispiriting narratives were indelibly inked neath the slumbering subconscious of the citizenry. Indeed, we have witnessed the downward spiralling of electoral aspirations and collective hope for a better nation.
Couched with cunning follies and amorous sophistries from the same political figures, who verily became the same household names for years, Filipinos were left in the abysmal void of an illusory democratic choice. Disappointed with their political bets, the working class, urban and rural poor, have uncovered the dubious promises of a good quality of life. While the common folk remained hell-bent on escaping the chains of poverty and oppression, they gradually sniffed the malodorous lies of elected officials out of the pandora’s trash bin.
As the recurring names of familial dynasties remain seated in the echelons of politico-economic power, the status quo continues to allow their nefarious webs of disinformation and aggressive political machinery. Faced with the cyclical prevalence of corrupt clans that bled the nation’s pocket dry, this begs the controversial query: why should we vote when an ailing democracy promises an illusion of choice?
In the first issue of The Red Chronicles’ 18th Volume, we unveil the mass-oriented mechanisms that transcend beyond the national elections. Featuring the people-centric calls of the youth, fisherfolk, and the masses, we explore the essential role of the youth sector beyond their exuberance in circumnavigating the 2025 National Elections. The Red Chronicles, as a member of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, presents in this volume the publication’s duty-bound service as a journalistic watchdog amid crucial times brought by media attacks, disinformation, and electoral fraud.
While it appears that some might have lamentably fallen asleep from the exhaustion of active civic engagement and political participation, the youth sector is wide awake—gazing from their huts and bungalows up to the high frescoed walls of the statesmen-turned bureaucrat-capitalists.
French Vivienne T. Templonuevo
Editor-in-Chief
Note: This article was first published in Volume XVIII, Issue I print edition of The Red Chronicles.