It's been a year since former VP Leni Robredo formally announced her candidacy. October 7, 2021. I remember doing an improv HAPPY dance, jumping for joy, and announcing that she was going to win (at least in my head). Then my obsession with Pink shortly began and half my T-Shirt drawer turned ROSAS.
Oh, what a year it has been. And what a loss we took in May.
We did our part, we volunteered, campaigned in ways that we can.
In hindsight, the MOVEMENT that we were in may have been pink, but it sure was very colorful.
VP Leni, our bet, represented so many good things, a beacon of hope for us. As a person, as a public servant, she was IT. She introduced concepts like Radikal na Pagmamahal (which I even wrote a song about, as it was too inspiring). She was calm, collected, and engaging with her volunteer campaigners and everyone, really. She had the track record. She was the next President, for sure.
However the Pink Movement is also a movement of people who are not like VP Leni, and that's the reality.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it any further, but:
What happened to the Pink Movement? More importantly, what happened IN the pink movement (community)?
To be honest, I can't say it was all rosy. A friend wrote about this, saying that since it was a purely volunteer-driven campaign, no one was accountable.
Were we a bunch of good-willed people? Yes. Were we helpful and hopeful? Yes.
Were we at times condescending too? Yes. Unable to expand our own worldview? At times.
Don't get me wrong, I am a full-blooded Kakampink, and I really look up to VP Leni and everything she represents. But maybe I had my head submerged deep into the Pink waters that after May, when I breathed for air, I looked back and was also disappointed, mostly by many a Kakampink.
I know people who are BBM supporters who are way more respectful, present, and kinder than some Kakampinks I know. To think our "brand" was that of supposed kindness, love, and all the mushy things.
(I know, I know, a lot of the BBM-ers are condescending and downright mean too, at least the human ones. The trolls don't count. 😁)
It was a misstep to put our trust solely on good will & benevolence when we didn't approach things objectively and skillfully.
We were conducting activities here and there without really assessing the impact we had. I agree, Lugaw is symbolic. But maybe in these times of poverty and difficulty for many, there's no bandwidth to process these symbolisms. If you're hungry, there is no time to be kind much less believe those who seem to be kind but are obviously eating more than 3 meals a day. Right?
VP Leni was the real deal. But not everyone felt it, or believed it. Yes we had misinformation and disinformation. And that sucks. Yes, the numbers/election results aren't real, I know they're not.
But I am not talking about the results here. I am talking about the process. It's too late to point fingers, re-open or lick wounds, and wish things could have been better. We have the next elections to change our ways and be better, for sure.
Win or lose, in hindsight, it was pretty messy in many MANY ways.
But that's what love is. (Haha naks, love agad).
Love is messy. Working with people is messy.
I am happy to have been a part of it, and meet so many amazing people along the way, and witness the hard work of those whose intentions were/are pure and only truly wanted to help change the course of our history/herstory.
But as humans, we are not perfect. And that's it.
Also, no one could ever predict the outcome. But to be honest I never thought we would lose, really. I was 100% sure we would win, especially after witnessing how so many volunteers tirelessly did everything they can to win. Maybe this overconfidence made us complacent?
We hyped ourselves up without looking back down and seeing who we've ostracized, whether within the group or not. We patted ourselves on the back for a Lugawan well done without asking those who attended, "Do you even like lugaw? What could we do better next time?" Then attempts to evaluate an activity objectively were met with backlash. And since no one was accountable and no one person steered the boat, everyone wanted to steer, sometimes to the point of it being an ego contest. When one group showed up for an event, another group would be pissed and upset about it. Grown adults fighting for their rightful spot in the playground.
We called the other camp/s dumb and stupid and yes some of them are, but maybe, just maybe, they're acting out from a place of GENUINE belief that their candidate is truly a good person? (I know I've done that one too many times- debate with people on social media). Not everyone thinks the way we do, and it's SO hard to wrap our heads around that ( Metacognition -thinking about how we think, which is a mind-blowing concept).
Should we have appealed to people's hearts that much and broadcasted abstract concepts like Love and Light and sang about Hope constantly, when people just wanted to know if they were going to have a better life? I don't know the answer, but I just wish we toned down on the us versus them mentality and the "join us because we're a bunch of people who are nice and smart and Godly". No wonder many people got turned off. And don't get me started on rally attendees saying things like, "Hindi kami binayaran noh, lunch ko palang 600pesos na." How elitist can one statement be?
Ahh, so many things we did wrong, huh.
One thing we did right was stand behind the person we believed in, up to the last second and even post-elections.
I am of course grateful for the year that was, and sad for what could have been. I can only imagine how breezier it probably is now had VP Leni won. But no, we have a president who is more focused on vlogging and going to car racing events than doing his job.
VP Leni would surely show up for the job, and would step up too.
And that's what I learned from the year that was --- show up to step up. Showing up is hard already, honestly. And after the series of disappointments during the campaign period and of course the results, lately I haven't been adamant on showing up.
It's done, it's over, and attempts to evaluate our own efforts should have been done during the campaign and not right now. Only if these will benefit us for the next elections, but I doubt that.
Or are we just caressing each other and patting ourselves on the back once again?
I stay in the movement because of the friendships (with a select few), though I am not so enthusiastic about whatever we're doing now. Maybe for now, the only way I can show up is to just be, and to quietly support our Kakampink friends. Maybe living the values that VP Leni has shared and shown, and the goals she and this movement have written, need not be exclusive to joining Angat Buhay or whatever groups we're forming. "Good work is service in itself"- I can't remember where I read or heard this, but I so agree. In whatever space one occupies, we can be of help and continue to work towards a better community and country (naks).
I sure hope many BBM supporters now regret their decision, what with a lazy president, declining quality of life, heightened acts of impunity, historical distortion, and so much more, and I also hope that many Kakampinks will now see that being a Kakampink is more than just the Election results or the exclusive factions we've formed.
It's a movement we live every day, not when it's cool or popular or viral or may elicit social media engagement. It's time to rise above the pink waters and really see that all colors are beautiful.
Your forever Kakampink,
Ivee😃💗
(10/07/22)
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